Pokemon Colosseum: Global Healing
by Digi-Dolphin
Summary: The great showdown commences, but Cipher still has one last trick up its sleeve. With Seth realizing his worst fears and the day of reckoning at hand, will the heroes heal the world or will they be doomed by their own ally?
1. Making Final Plans

A/N: I mix a little of both worlds, the story follows more closely with the games than anything else, but I mix in elements from the cartoons and movies to add flavor to the story. As far as I know, this will be my last Colosseum story. I may have more later, but for now, this is the last one I'll write.

Ages:

Wes/Seth: 17 yrs (personal theme- Come Clean)

Rui: 17 yrs (personal theme- Gonna Get You Good)

Sera: 34 yrs (personal theme- Everybody Wants To Rule The World)

Brendan: 16 yrs (personal theme- People Are People)

May: 16 yrs (personal theme- Get This Party Started)

Silver: 19 yrs (personal theme- It's My Life)

Ash/Red: 21 yrs (personal theme- Holding Out For A Hero)

That's basically what I have in mind for each character when I write. Helps me keep them in line. Can't have Seth running everywhere trying to do stupid stuff, now, can I?

* * *

Prologue

With Hoenn and Johto freed from the threats of Team Samba and Venus, the only region left to save is the land of Kanto. Guided by the great Kanto Champion, Red, Seth, Rui, Brendan and May head for the final showdown against Cipher and their last team, Team Berserker. But the situation grows more tense as Seth finds himself rushing to face what could be his destiny or his destruction.

Celebi and her friends are gathering, too; hurrying to meet the final few legendaries and stop Cipher from laying claim to the greatest of legendaries, Raykyoudon. This Pokémon with the ability to control the weather conditions of the world and force the elements to stop can be the greatest ally to the world, or the bringer of its death.

With Kanto's gyms and trainers fighting fiercely to keep themselves free, the heroes have precious little time to stop Cipher's final attempt to conquer the world. And still they have no idea of the ominous Earth Seal project ready and waiting to be unleashed upon the world. Waiting for the final component, Project: WSLY, Seth, to be brought in and fitted for it to attain full power...

* * *

Ch 1

Ein glowered at the notice that he received. Miror B. had been arrested and lost hold of Seth before he could go and pick him up. How he managed to lose the young man was of little mystery. Since Seth had the hard disks that contained his entire program and memories, it was only a matter of time before their Kids Grid companion, Nett, could figure out all of his personal notes on controlling the Snagger and use them to their advantage. Sera was entertaining herself with the Rayquaza, promptly going out to use it against the Elite Four while Dakim reported that the Silph Corporation was beginning to wilt under the siege on their building. With a loss of power from the plant on the eastern coast of Kanto, cities were beginning to fail and lose hope, but still the Gym Leaders fought on.

He had been right all along, Kanto's trainers were much, much tougher than any they had seen before. The sheer ferocity with which they battled had startled them at first, but with the addition of old Team Rocket troops mingling with Team Berserker grunts, they were fairly confident that the Leaders would fall. The most stubborn of them was the Viridian Gym, its Leader constantly cycling out the battle weary Pokémon for fresh teams and maintained the greatest challenge to them.

"Bugger." Ein muttered and looked up as Fein walked into the lab, rubbing one arm and wincing. "You went to annoy Gonzap for a while, didn't you?" he added, setting aside the paper and raising an eyebrow at him. Fein scowled as he reached for a bottle of painkillers.

"You could have warned me he had a thing for Seth. I thought he was gonna freaking tear my arm out of its socket!" he complained before downing a couple of the pills.

"They're both sick, if you ask me. My greatest creation ever and those two fools can only think of it as a sex toy. Disgusting." Ein growled, "Millions of the Cipher's capital went into the research, genetic manipulation, development and creation of Seth as both Pokémon and living server. An enhanced human is our end result simply because Evice was foolish enough to not press further on Hoenn legend and history."

"And you're gonna start it over by getting Seth back, huh?" Fein remarked and perked suddenly, "Wai-wait! A _Pokémon_? That thick-head back there was supposed to be a _Pokémon_?" he added in a surprised shriek. Ein rolled his eyes and nodded. No sense not letting everyone else know; it may help keep the Snagger in one piece when he finally got him back. "Geez, you guys sure know how to mess with a dude's life." Fein sighed, scratching his head as he tried to work the newfound revelation in his head. "So what are you gonna do if you get him here?"

"When." Ein corrected, "And we're taking him straight to Indigo Plateau. That's where the Earth Seal was hidden. Once we have him there, I'll complete him with the syringe of altered Rayquaza DNA. Its symbiotic coding will embed itself into every cell of his body and grant him the final abilities and powers of the sky dragon. Once he can control all the elements, the rains, the heat, the land, the sea, the sky and the winds, the Earth Seal will absorb him and magnify his power to global proportions."

"You're gonna have a weather machine?" Fein asked blankly, grabbing a soda to down the medicine with.

"Not just a weather machine, but a weather **god,** capable of creating natural disasters the likes of which this world has never seen before!" Ein declared with a maniacal laugh. Fein raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and finished chugging down the soda, diet, of course, he had to copy Seth's slender figure as closely as he could. Master of disguise ego and all that.

* * *

Professor Elm blinked down at the new bike Seth pulled up to the building. The other borrowed bikes had been returned, but the one Seth gave him wasn't the one he had left with. He floundered for a moment, unsure of how to ask where the older bike was, when the Snagger shot him a look.

"Just take it. I lost yours in this backwards region so you might as well just take this one and we'll call it even." he told him and walked back to the group. Silver shrugged and waved towards the flabbergasted professor before the last hope of the world began to make their way to the Tohjo Falls.

* * *

Red looked up at the huge waterfall that blocked the way to the region of Kanto. Tohjo Falls had been the most difficult passage he had to deal with in going back and forth between the two regions to meet with Professor Oak. Once he went through the Johto Gyms and gathered the new HMs and TMs, the waterfall no longer was a problem. He looked back at Seth and Rui, who gazed up at it with apprehension and uncertainty. Seth looked most uncomfortable with the great height.

"Do we have to go _up_ that thing?" he asked after a few moments. Red nodded and he winced. "I was afraid of that."

"Don't you guys have Pokémon that can use the Waterfall ability?" Silver asked in confusion. The Snagger shook his head and Rui looked slightly helpless, smiling weakly at them. "You can ride with Red, then."

"Blastoise!" Red declared, hurling the Poké Ball out and releasing a huge turtle-like creature. It bellowed, then stomped into the water, floating its shell above the surface. Red leaped out and stood on it, waiting. Seth sighed and waded in after it, holding his hands out for Rui.

"Eeks! Catch me!" Rui cried, throwing herself out at him. May bristled slightly and looked jealous as Seth laughed and caught her, helping her onto the Blastoise's back. Red looked in May's direction and frowned, then helped pull Seth aboard. "Okay, so how do we get up the waterfall?" she added.

"Like this. Blastoise! Waterfall!" Red ordered and the Pokémon swam to the falls, slowly rising up the water. Silver tossed in a Gyarados and leaped onto its back with a laugh following the group as Brendan and May climbed onto the Kyogre. Soon, the Pokémon were climbing up the water, ignoring the sudden rainstorm that came about from Kyogre's appearance. Rui leaned over and laughed as she stuck her hand into the water, letting it splash and flow over her arm.

"So much water! You are all so lucky to have such lush regions! Seth! Isn't it pretty?" she exclaimed. The Snagger rubbed at his aching arm and forced a smile for her sake.

"Just don't lean too far out. I don't want you to fall." he told her. Rui grinned back and splashed him, startling him.

"C'mon! Don't you just love all this water?" she teased, "Maybe after all this is done, we can come here and go swimming!" She splashed him some more, laughing as he tried to shield himself.

"Rui! Knock it off! Come on!" he cried while Red smiled at them. Pikachu watched with a grin.

_"Kids in love. I wish things had worked out between you and Misty."_ he remarked to the champion.

_"It wouldn't have done us any good. We're too different and she wouldn't understand my abilities. Misty is fine as she is, the Cerulean Gym Leader. I only hope she's still safe from Team Berserker."_ Red replied in the Pokémon's language. Rui stopped splashing long enough to stare up at him, hearing only the trainer speaking in bursts of 'Pika, pika, chu, pika pi.' Seth took the opportunity to splash her back, laughing as he took revenge for the earlier splashes. "Hey, guys. We made it." Red remarked as the Blastoise reached the top of the falls and swam to shore. Silver, May and Brendan followed, recalling their Pokémon once they were all safely on the land. Soaking from the rain, the group ran for the caves leading through the mountain range into Kanto.

"What a storm! Wonder what caused it?" Silver wondered aloud as they walked through the tunnel towards Pallet Town. Rui looked up at Seth, who looked as if he didn't want to know, and suggested they make camp to dry off, eat and resume the travel later.

"Sounds good to me!" May exclaimed brightly and Red promptly released the Charizard again. The Pokémon stretched and looked back at the trainer.

_"We need to borrow your tail for a campfire."_ Red told it and the dragon lay down comfortably and propped its tail onto a rock for them. With Silver setting up for lunch and Brendan bringing out towels to dry off with, Rui began feeling more at ease with everything. The nightmare from before had frightened her, doubly so when she saw it had scared Seth as well.

"Let me help you out. You need to change bandages." she remarked as Seth began shrugging off the Snag Machine and the jacket. He hesitated for a few moments, then allowed her to pull the black shirt off of him as well, bringing out the first aid kit to replace the soaked bandages that bound his shoulder and arms.

"What exactly is that thing for?" Red asked, nodding at the machine. Silver echoed his words, also curious about the red and black device that lay gleaming in the firelight. Seth spoke cautiously as Rui hummed softly, spritzing the closing wounds with disinfectant and wrapping them up again in soft white gauze.

"It's called the Snag Machine. A portable version of a larger design. It gives me the ability to turn any Poké Ball that is in my hand into a Snag Ball, but it takes time to charge and make the change." he answered, "The Snag Ball can then capture any Pokémon I throw it at, including those that belong to another trainer."

"It lets you steal Pokémon?" Silver snapped, suddenly angry as she jumped to her feet. "You're a thief of Pokémon!"

"That's not true!" Rui yelled back defensively as Seth reached for a towel and started drying off, "The Snag Machine was used for that once, yes, but now he only uses it to Snag Shadow Pokémon, the ones that were turned into heartless fighting machines! When we snag them, we purify them and set them free!"

"Orre operates differently from the rest of the regions, doesn't it?" Red asked calmly, putting a hand on Silver's arm to get her to simmer down. The Snagger studied him for a moment, gauging the older man. "From the tone of your skin and the zinc oxide on your face, I'm guessing that your homeland is very dry, arid and prone to intense exposure of sunlight. A desert, if I'm right." Red went on and smiled slightly at Seth's expression of surprise. "Guess I am. Most Pokémon I've met and found in my lifetime don't do well in desert regions, so I'd hazard a guess and say that Orre has very few, if any, truly wild Pokémon. Thus, any free ones there would be ones already owned by trainers. Stealing Pokémon for you isn't just a crime, as it is here, but the only way you can gain new Pokémon. There simply isn't enough for you to catch them honestly."

"Wow, Mr. Red, you figured it out like that? Just from looking at Seth?" Rui exclaimed in an impressed tone.

"Either that, or he looked it up in Orre's most wanted lists." Brendan muttered and saw stars and stalactites upon Seth hurling a can of beans at the boy's head. May cried and knelt over the trainer in shock as the Snagger grumbled irritably under his breath.

"Loud-mouthed brat." Seth muttered, "I was number two most wanted."

Lunch itself was largely uneventful, save for the silent challenge between Red and Seth to see who ate the most food in one sitting. Red reluctantly gave in after a half dozen sandwiches and rice balls. Seth's smile was one Rui would hold in memory for ages as he held up a victory sign with his fingers and downed the twelfth sandwich she prepared for him. Red was able to exact unwitting revenge by playing the Poké Flute for his new friends. His eyebrows shot up in mild surprise as Seth listened for a moment, then slumped against Rui, dozing softly. The girl blinked and smiled, mouthing her thanks to Red before twining her arms around the sleeping Snagger and holding him closer, his head resting on her shoulder.

He didn't wake up after Red finished playing so they decided to just let him rest and Rui set to work on purifying the Pokémon for him. While the other trainers cleaned up and got ready to leave, she feed Poké Blocks to the female twins and rubbed them down with Vivid Scent cologne. The girls cooed and pounced on her playfully. The noise woke Seth, who peered at them in annoyance, then stretched, yawning as Rui rubbed their heads. May watched him, sighed wistfully and stuffed her towel back into her pack.

"Let's go then." Red remarked and continued leading them to Pallet. The Snagger studied the two females for a moment, then shrugged and allowed them to follow him outside of the balls. Perhaps they would purify quicker if he let them travel with him. He thought over Rui's dream and worried to himself. If it was more than a dream, if it was a vision of the future, then was he doomed to become Cipher's puppet again? And if that was the case, then they would make him destroy those he cared for to make sure they wouldn't interfere with them. And the Shadow Pokémon that Rui couldn't identify was the one that would kill them all. It seemed to him that the destruction would come about if they tried to keep Cipher from getting him.

Would they spare Rui, Jupiter, Pluto and the others if he went ahead and surrendered? Seth was tempted by the idea, but quickly shook it out of his head. Surrendering was what they wanted from him. It would give Ein free reign to mess with his mind and experiment on his body. It would give Gonzap every right to use him as a punching bag. And it would be a declaration of submission to that nut Sera, his 'sister', though he shuddered to think of her as such. What kind of sister would spend her every waking moment, and probably a few of her sleeping ones, trying to get into her brother's pants?

No, Seth would have to stay out of their reach. He'd keep his eyes open for the sinewy Pokémon and avoid whatever new traps Ein set up for him in Kanto. It shouldn't be all that hard. He was in possession of all of their data and information. He practically knew their whole plan. The only problem was in trying to access that data and use it. Seth focused on bringing up another of Cipher's many files in his mind and winced at the sharp pain that stabbed into his head as a result. Well, maybe it would be a little bit hard. But not much. He just hoped it stopped raining outside the tunnels. Part Kyogre or not, Seth wasn't up for another swim if the land decided to get flooded.


	2. Earth Seal Secrets

A/N: There are plenty of stories with Ash/Misty pairings. This pairing is, in my opinion, rather original. Yes, Silver really is her name. The Ash/Misty scenario wouldn't work here because of Red's abilities, talking with Pokemon and all. You don't see that everyday. Seth can't do it either. He can understand what they say, but he can't talk to them in Pokemon language, which is Red's special ability. For those who don't understand what's going on, know that this is the third of a trilogy. Read Global Warning and Global Meeting to get the idea and Pokemon Colosseum: Apparitions to fully understand Seth and Sera. That's all for my notes!

* * *

Ch 2

_"Is this what we're looking for?"_ Jirachi asked as the group landed to rest near the Unknown Dungeon near Cerulean City. Celebi flitted about and pouted after a few minutes.

_"They're late! I told Regice, Registeel and Regirock to be here already! I told them that last year and they still haven't gotten here? How rude!"_ she whined. Latios blinked and frowned.

_"You know how slow they move. Especially when Regice is making an ice bridge from Hoenn to here."_ he lectured, _"Now go get Mew!"_

_"I'll find the other legendary birds here. I've been in Kanto a few times myself."_ Ho-Oh added as he flapped and took off. Celebi giggled and popped out of the area. Lugia hunched down and sighed.

_"At least we don't have to call in Deoxys for this. Who knows how he'd react if he knew a human was going to rank above him as a legendary?"_ he remarked. Jirachi looked around and poked at the back of Latios's head.

_"**WHAT? **What do you want, you attention starved midget?"_ the dragon yelled, craning his head over his shoulder to glare at him.

_"Can we get this done sometime this week? I'm supposed to only be awake for seven days and I'm down to three now. I have to grant some wishes before I can go back to my nap."_ he asked.

_"There's a city right over there! Go there and grant a wish! Or better yet, grant mine and quit snoozing on my back!"_ Latios fumed. Jirachi shrugged.

_"No prob."_ he remarked and immediately flitted over to plop himself on Raikou's back, _"Wish granted. Wake me when they get back."_

_"Tarnation and Entei-fire! What's this runt doin' on my back?"_ Raikou growled and started bucking all around the group. Jirachi merely dug itself deeper into his fuzz and snored on. _"Entei! Suicune! One of ya'll get this rugrat offa my back!"_

_"I think it's cute."_ Suicune cooed and snickered as Celebi returned with Mew and Mewtwo in tow.

_"They got lost."_ Celebi remarked with a grin and hugged the Mew, _"How's it going, girl?"_

_"Mewtwo took a wrong turn and wouldn't stop for directions. Thanks for the lift."_ Mew replied with a giggle. The clone pouted and rolled his eyes.

_"I'm not asking directions from a Caterpie. It's humiliating."_ he grumbled.

_"Once we get Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres to join us, we'll go to the Indigo Plateau and destroy the Earth Seal. With it gone, we can focus on getting_ _Raykyoudon to choose the path of good and he can start learning how to deal with his new lifestyle." _Celebi told the two Psychics, _"We also have to find Rayquaza. I can open the door to his heart if he sees me, in case Cipher made him a Shadow Pokémon. I hope they didn't, Rayquaza has few happy memories to make him pure again."_

_"Get offa my baaaaaack!"_ Raikou continued to wail as the legendaries waited and pondered their next move.

* * *

"We will not surrender to the likes of you madmen!" Lance yelled angrily over the phone as Sera laughed on the screen. "Get your Pokémon away from this stadium! I'll breathe my last before I let you near our Pokémon or the Indigo Stadium!"

"Be prepared to follow through, then! My Rayquaza will tear your teams apart and the world will know my power!" she declared, "Once I have control of your stadium, everything will be under my control! It's only a matter of time before the eight gyms of this region fall under my command and the security defenses of the stadium are breached by your own activation badges!" She cut the connection and leaned back in her seat, smiling as the sky dragon circled the stadium, avoiding the beams of electricity and ice that shot into the air after it. Sera and Ein had set up base on the ruins of a building in the forests outside of Pallet Town. Gonzap flexed his fists and kept his eyes on the monitors that lined one wall, waiting for Ein's sensors to be tripped. He had taken a good number of them and, with help from members of Team Berserker, placed them all along the mountain range that separated Kanto from Johto.

"Come on. I know you're out there. Just wait till I get my hands on you again." he growled under his breath, "We got a lot to catch up on, Seth. A whole hell of a lot."

"Ein, dear, are you sure you've perfected the Shadow process on Rayquaza?" Sera asked as the scientist walked into the room with Fein following behind.

"Yes, yes. As long as it wears that visor, not even Celebi can restore it. It will allow it only to see x-ray images of its surroundings. Its programmed to highlight Seth's body if it comes into view so we can find him and converge on his location." Ein griped and looked at the screen. "Bugger! Send him somewhere else for a while! Rayquaza will do us no good if he keeps attacking that stadium! You'll risk damage to the Earth Seal!"

"Oh pooh, fine." Sera pouted and pressed a series of keys on the console beside her, then lifted a mike to her mouth, "Rayquaza! This is your mistress! Fly to Viridian City and prevent the gym leader from using weather attacks!"

Soaring over the Indigo Plateau, the long green dragon paused in its attack and cocked its head, listening to the orders coming through from the visor. It roared once and cut the air, cracking its body like a whip as it sped towards Viridian City.

Sera set the microphone down and looked over at Fein, eyebrow raised.

"Aren't _you_ supposed to be doing something at the Silph Building? Teach them a lesson for not giving us the Master Ball technology!" she demanded. Fein bowed mockingly and walked out, grumbling under his breath about lack of appreciation for his work. "As for you, Ein; the Earth Seal. I want to know more about it. Daddy didn't tell me anything about his projects." Sera went on, glaring at him.

"Earth Seal is a machine built by the first team of Cipher scientists and researchers to control the elements that make up the Earth's weather." Ein began, settling into a seat and pulling out a binder full of old notes, "The machine was designed to harness the power of legendary Pokémon to bend nature to our command. But there were far too many legends and far too little evidence to prove if such legendaries existed. When we learned of the Pokémon Groudon and Kyogre in Hoenn, and of how their innate abilities to control certain aspects of weather were controlled, we took samples of their DNA from the scene of their battle."

"We attempted to recreate both Pokémon but the DNA was too badly fragmented to construct them separately, so we combined the DNA. The end result was a highly unstable Pokémon that died almost immediately after birth." he went on as Gonzap perked up at the blip that began to flash on one screen, "It was then that Evice had the idea of using the most stable DNA available to bridge the gaps in the strands and create a Pokémon that had the powers and abilities of both legendaries. Since we have technology to create artificial Pokémon, like Porygon and Porygon2, it was easy to recreate that process and insert human DNA into the equation. Yours, being young and still adaptable, made the perfect bridge to create our super-legendary. It was code-named Project: WSLY, after Evice's first son, Wesley Evice. He had died from an attack by a wild Pokémon that was diseased and fought like an insane beast."

"My brother had it coming, going off to Kanto to be a world-famous trainer and ending his life halfway through it." Sera spat coldly, "I suppose it was because of that Pokémon killing Wesley that Daddy decided to use Pokémon and enslave the world that destroyed his only son?"

"Probably, but getting back to the point. Once it was discovered that we could create a Pokémon that could already control two of the largest aspects of the weather, the Earth Seal was redesigned to take the Pokémon as its AI core and enhance the power to create a seal over the world. We would cut the Earth off from its own weather and can create weather of our own command." Ein finished, "Basically, we would become gods and use the Earth Seal to generate weather however we wanted, whenever we wanted, wherever we wanted."

"Yo, Brainiac, shut up and look at this! We got activity near us! Not more than ten, twenty miles off, near Tohjo Falls! It's gotta be Seth and his gang!" Gonzap yelled with a whoop. Sera sat up and grabbed her mike as Ein blinked in surprise.

"I have a brilliant idea!" she declared and opened the connection again, "Rayquaza! This is your mistress! Disregard previous orders! Your new target is coming in through the Tohjo Falls! Bring me the Snagger, alive! Do as you like with the others, but bring me Seth!"

"He's with a group of trainers, Sera! If one of them has a Master Ball and Seth gets a hold of it in the Snag Machine...!" Ein cried, leaning forward to stop her.

"Then I'll make sure his snagging days are over!" Sera laughed cruelly, "Rayquaza! When you have Seth in your grasp...!" Her eyes took on a mad light as the men stared at her in shock, "Destroy the Snag Machine on his arm!"

* * *

"Weather doesn't look so bad from here. It looks perfectly fine." Silver remarked, gazing skyward as the group walked towards Pallet Town.

"Kanto is usually pretty pleasant when it comes to the climate. Professor Oak must be waiting for us in his lab, though I'd hate to see if he's deteriorating any further since the last visit." Red went on and looked glum, "I hold a great deal of respect for the man, but his age and health are beginning to wear on him. He may not be with us for much longer. I only hope Gary is doing better."

"Where is the Power Plant located? The sooner we get the power restored, the sooner we'll be able to help oust Team Berserker's leader and finally stop Cipher." Seth remarked as Rui tagged beside him, feeling a strange shiver go up her spine. "If the track record runs true, the last Admin we'll have to deal with is Dakim and I can handle him just fine." He smiled up at Red and clenched his left fist tightly. "He won't be able to throw me and my Pokémon off balance with Earthquake anymore, not when I can use the same move against him!"

May and Brendan lagged behind, looking annoyed with the group. For most of the journey, neither of them had been treated well by Seth. Brendan's chin still sported the bandage and his head throbbed from the earlier blow to the head. May disliked being spurned so often when flirting. They looked at each other and nodded. Seth had to be taught some manners.

They spoke softly and quickly, watching the rest of the group for anyone who happened to look back at them. Afterwards, they ran up to join and winked at each other briefly.

"Rui, I never made mentions of this, but you look really nice in that jacket." Brendan remarked with a smile. Seth blinked and glanced their way in a mix of surprise and wariness. Rui blushed and smiled back.

"Um, thank you! That's nice of you to say!" she replied bashfully. Red frowned, but said nothing, continuing to lead the group towards the town.

"I was wondering if maybe, after all this is over, you would like to go out for dinner?" Brendan went on, "I know a great restaurant in Lilycove City where they serve excellent sushi and sashimi buffets." Seth stopped abruptly and stood before them, glaring angrily at the boy.

"What do you think you're doing?" he hissed as the rest of the group stopped in surprise. May smiled and darted around the startled Rui to stand before Seth.

"See? If they can go out together, so can we! We can make up for the sandbar incident back in Hoenn." she purred. Rui blinked and her mouth dropped open.

"Seth? Is that what happened back at...? Oh!" she stammered and bit her lip, eyes welling with tears as she clenched her hands into fists.

"Rui! It's not what you think! She's making everything up!" Seth began to reply, trying to keep his anger at Brendan and May from confusing him. "Anyways, you were hugging Brendan back at Ever Grande!" he added in the same hurt tone. The Hoenn trainers stepped back, grinning slightly as they watched their handiwork carry itself out.

"I hugged him to thank him for saving you!" Rui cried, "Ingrate! And you were off flirting with May while I was worried sick about you, weren't you?" Seth scowled.

"How could you think I was capable of that after everything I've done for you?" he snapped back, "And I clearly heard you call him your hero! What am I? Last year's news? I should have left you in that stupid sack in Pyrite, you ditz!"

"And I should have just left you to die in that miserable Shadow Pokémon Lab, you turncoat Snagger! I wish I never laid eyes on you! I hate you!"

"I wish I had shoved you off the UFO in The Under! And I hate you more!"

"Guys! What are you talking about? Stop it!" Silver shrieked, shocked by the heated argument between the Snagger and his partner. Red glared at the group, Pikachu scowling just as much.

_"They did that on purpose."_ the mouse grumbled.

_"No doubt they're getting back at Seth for something. Crappy way of doing it."_ Red growled. "Brendan, May. I want to talk with you a bit." he began to say in normal English when a loud slap sounded. He looked towards the fighting couple in shock. Silver yelped and covered her mouth, eyes wide with disbelief.

Seth stood before Rui, a stunned expression on his face. A bright red mark was already forming on his cheek as Rui stepped back from him. The slap had spoken volumes for how she was feeling at that moment and the Snagger had been completely unaware of the power of the emotions. The female Espeon and Umbreon sat nearby, watching the scene unfold with little interest. Seth said nothing, only gazed at Rui with that same confused look, then slowly took on a cold expression that spoke back just as much as the physical attack.

"You're not worth it." he murmured in a dark voice and turned on the group, walking ahead. Through her anger, Rui could see his stature and attitude returning to his old Snagger self full force. The realization of that broke through and she sobbed, dropping to her knees and covering her face. She had lost him.

The situation went downhill even further, as the roar of an enraged Pokémon filled the air. The heroes stopped suddenly and looked up, startled to see a sinewy green dragon come straight at them with a huge silver and blue visor on its head and its mouth gaping for them. They shrieked and scattered but Seth merely ignored it and marched on. What happened to them was nothing he should be concerned about, all he had to do was snag a few last Shadow Pokémon, then get the hell back to Orre and never think of this trip again.

Rui's scream of terror made him hesitate for a moment, just long enough for him to hear her cry his name and a warning before being crushed breathless in the grip of the dragon.

"Don't attack! You'll hit Seth!" Red ordered when the three other trainers grabbed for their Poké Balls.

_"Ha ha ha! I knew you wouldn't hurt your dear little Snagger! That's right! Stare and do nothing! I will be queen of the world! I win! I win!"_ Sera's voice taunted from the visor on the Rayquaza's head as the dragon proceeded to pull the Snag Machine from Seth's arm. _"Destroy it! Quickly! I don't want that machine used on you!"_

"No!" Seth wailed as the Pokémon pulled the device free from him and held it in one fist. It tightened and the crowd gasped at the clearly audible crunch. With Sera still laughing, Rayquaza dropped the sparking and broken remains of the machine onto the grass and soared into the air, carrying a screaming and furious Seth with it. Rui cried louder, reaching for kidnapped Snagger, aware that the last moments they had together had been spent in a rage. Red turned his eyes on the two trainers and both Brendan and May paled considerably.

"I hope you two are content with your handiwork. I wouldn't be surprised if he decides to come back in their charge and kill you. Hell, I'd probably help out, the way I feel about you now." the older champion growled. Silver picked up the broken machine and gazed skyward helplessly.

"What do we do now?" she asked, "With Seth gone and the Snag Machine destroyed, how can we possibly stop Cipher and save the world?"


	3. The Snagger Returns

A/N: Patience, everyone! Patience! The story is coming when I can write it. I don't want to wreck it by rushing.

* * *

Ch 3

_"What's that?"_ Articuno asked as he and the other legendary birds of Kanto flew towards Cerulean City. Moltres glanced over at the ice bird's direction, then followed his gaze to the shadowy figure in the distance, soaring towards the forest near Pallet Town.

_"I dunno. We don't have time to check it out, though. The others are waiting." _the fiery legendary replied and the trio winged their way to the Unknown Dungeon.

Raikou had by then given up on Jirachi and just lay on the ground, grumbling under his breath as the tiny Psychic snoozed on. The three birds descending with Ho-Oh following behind startled the group slightly but they were then able to gather themselves.

_"Okay, so what are we here for? What's the big emergency?"_ Zapdos muttered, _"I lost my spot at the Power Plant, if anyone cares."_

_"We have to wait it out until the Regis make it here."_ Celebi remarked, _"But basically we must go to the Indigo Plateau and destroy the Earth Seal before it grabs hold of Raykyoudon and uses him to kill us all."_

_"What exactly is this Earth Seal you keep blabbing on about?"_ Lugia grumbled, _"And why should it concern all of us? We're freaking legendary Pokémon! We can handle anything!"_

_"Not when it concerns the weather!"_ Celebi snapped, _"Even Mewtwo's little storm is nothing when compared to the super-cells that Raykyoudon can conjure under the wrong path!"_ She looked heavenward. _"Once he is born, Raykyoudon will have all the powers of the three elemental legendaries of Hoenn, the ones who helped create the land and the sea and the winds of this world. If he misuses them under Cipher's command, the world will cease to function. The winds will fall still, the land will shatter, the seas dry into desert."_ she murmured as the legendaries stared at her in shock._ "Our world will surely die then. All of our powers, pitted against that storm, with Raykyoudon safe within it, could never stop it. We'd die before we could even get close to him."_

_"Wouldn't it be better to kill him now, while he's still a human punk?"_ Mewtwo grumbled, resting his chin on one paw as Mew sat on his head, holding herself up by grabbing his ears. Celebi shook her head.

_"We need him alive. As long as the technology for creating Shadow Pokémon exists, we'll need Seth alive to counter it."_ she replied and frowned, _"Anyways, I like him. He's a good person and we need more of those in this world."_

_"My way's more fun."_ Mewtwo pouted.

_"So how do we wreck this Earth Seal machine? Do we hit it with Psychic powers or fire or electricity or what?"_ Raikou growled as Jirachi continued dozing on his back.

_"Well, see that's the problem right there. I'm not exactly sure what we should hit it with."_ Celebi muttered. She looked up at Ho-Oh, _"Any ideas, Bird of Life?"_ The legendary thought carefully, then sighed and shook his head. _"We're in a jam, guys. The Earth Seal relies on the power of a legendary to make it work. For all we know, hitting it with any of our powers will make it stronger than before."_

_"Then this is a time when we can only do what we can and hope for the best."_ Suicune put in, _"Let's go to the plateau and attack the machine and hope that the process of saving the world doesn't ultimately kill us all as well."_ The legendaries agreed and continued waiting for the final three Pokémon to appear.

* * *

Seth slowly woke and looked around him in a daze. He was in a room, large and regal looking, with huge windows that led to a balcony on one wall and beautiful paintings on the others. He lay in a bed, warm and comfortable under thick blankets and soft pillows. Confused, he sat up, rubbing at one eye as he tried to remember what had happened to him.

_"I wish I left you to die in that stupid lab! I hate you!"_

_"I wish I threw you into the Deep! I hate you more!"_

_A slap, a pain that shot across his face and struck his heart, then only a cold icy wall that sealed him from her. A cry moments later and a crushing weight around him. The Snag Machine..._

Gasping as the memories returned in a rush, Seth grabbed his left arm and winced as he found the machine gone. He remembered now; it was crushed in the grips of that Pokémon. _Rayquaza._

He slid out from under the covers and looked himself over for injuries. Save for the ones to his pride and heart, he was healthy, dressed only in his shirt and jeans. The trench coat was hung neatly on a coat-rack not far from him and his boots were placed together below it. Wary of his surroundings, Seth explored his new 'prison', searching for an exit, a weapon, and the identities of his captors.

He searched the pockets of his jacket for his Pokémon. Of course, the balls were gone. A shiver went up his spine. Where were Jupiter and Pluto? He checked the rest of his pockets and frowned; whoever took his Pokémon also took his wallet and PDA. Dressing quickly, he explored the rest of the room.

A table beside his bed had a silver tray laden with food, presumably his breakfast or lunch. Seth glanced out the window, afternoon. Must be lunch. Instead of eating, he examined the decorations of the room, searching for hidden cameras, panels and weapons. He found one hidden in a vase of roses and promptly shoved it lens first into the beef stew that had been served for him.

"I eat nothing you set before me! Got it?" he snapped into the room, sure that any secreted microphone would pick up his words and carry it to his captors. "I know it's you, Cipher! Whatever it is you want to do with me, you can just forget it!"

The door opened before him; he had checked it and found it locked. Picking up the vase again to use as a weapon, Seth waited to see who would step in. To his shock and irritation, it was Fein, still dressed and posing as him.

"You know how long I took to make that stew? Ingrate." he grumbled and shut the door again, locking it once more. "You better eat something! Sera's ticked off with the both of us, y'know!" he shouted as he walked away. Seth smashed the vase against the door and yelled in a fury before sitting back in bed, scowling at his feet.

He could only blame himself for this mess. He hadn't looked over his shoulder like he usually did. If he had, he would have known which way to dive to avoid getting caught. Now without his Snag Machine, without his Pokémon, he was nothing more than a normal, old, everyday thief. Seth hated that feeling, the feeling of obsoleteness. It made him feel as if he were being used and meant nothing to the world in general.

The world...

The world would be destroyed if Cipher was able to get him to that Earth Seal thing Nett had told them about. How could he have been so stupid as to have fallen right into their laps? Seth looked around quickly, thinking. If they needed him so badly that their plan was useless without him, then perhaps he could use that to his advantage. After all, what did he have to lose? He had already lost everything when Brendan stole Rui right before his own two eyes. He hated Hoenn more than ever, for bearing the two Pokémon that gave him life, for bearing the two trainers that acted as though their one goal in life was to ruin his own.

Seth glanced over at the tray and took note of the dishes of food. The camera in the stew bubbled unappetizingly, but the salad looked crisp and delicious, the cut of steak still sizzling from the grill, the hot green tea served in a dainty porcelain cup filling the air with a tantalizing smell. After a few moments, he sighed and pulled the tray towards himself.

* * *

Sitting blind in his lab thanks to an errant bowl of beef stew, Ein leaned back in his chair and grumbled to himself. He had wanted to take the information as soon as Rayquaza had brought in Seth, who had fainted after seeing the great height it took him, but Sera had other ideas. She talked on about how, if he was treated like the deceased Wesley, they could coerce him into actually helping them out instead of fighting them every step of the way to world domination. He didn't think it would work, Fein wanted Seth put on display so he could compare himself to the Snagger and see if his disguise was as perfect as he claimed, and Gonzap... well, Gonzap had this strange look in his eyes that was driven away when the corporate princess rammed her stiletto's heel into his foot and chased him back into whatever room he had been working out.

"Bloody hell." Ein grumbled again and sat up when the microphone in Seth's room crackled to life again.

"Ein, I know you're out there. I've finished your stupid lunch. I have a proposition you might be interested in. It's about that little Earth Seal toy." Seth's voice came in, dark and icy. He wondered briefly about it, then dismissed it as a reaction to himself. "Tell me where my team is, and we'll have a little talk about my role in this scheme of yours."

"I'll be damned. It worked." Ein murmured in surprise and flipped on the speaker, "Ah, Seth! Glad to hear you're awake! Um, stay right there! I'll come and get you and we can talk in my lab." He glanced over at the four Pokémon trapped in the Shadow Machine, all clawing and pounding in efforts to break out, the two Psychics hindered by a pair of devices that made it painful to use their innate powers.

"Whoever made the steak should go back to cooking school. It was slightly burnt." Seth added as the scientist stood and made his way out towards the room.

* * *

Rui sat in the back of the helicopter, completely unresponsive to any attempts to talk to her. Red had taken note of the group's welfare and finally made a call to a friend of his; Gary Oak, he had mentioned. The Gym Leader of Viridian City wasn't able to make it in, but his chauffeur was dispatched in a chopper to fly out and pick up the small band of heroes. Upon the Champion's orders, the helicopter made its way to the Power Plant to break the siege on the building and restore the power to Kanto.

"You two are the biggest jerks I have _ever_ met!" Silver raged at Brendan and May, "Have you been taking lessons from my sister? How could you **do** such a thing to them? What is **wrong** with you?" The trainers looked glumly at each other and sighed. May raised her hand.

"It's all **my** fault." she murmured, "I'm sorry, everyone, but I wanted to be his girlfriend, even if it was just for a couple of days." Brendan stared at her in shock and disbelief. "But he was so darn _loyal_ to that redhead. I thought... I thought that if I could break them up... I'd have a chance. I mean, why go out with some girl who doesn't even have a Pokémon, when he could have had a Champion for a girlfriend?"

"You were _cheating_ on me?" Brendan fumed and stormed from her, planting himself in a new seat, "I should have seen this coming. Gah, I'm such an idiot..." May winced as Silver tapped her foot.

"Well, there you are. Now you don't have **any** boyfriends!" she lectured and looked over at Rui. "Cipher has Seth now. And the one thing we need to save those Shadow Pokémon here has been destroyed. What can we do?"

"It's bigger than that." Rui said softly and the group gathered around in relief to hear her speaking again. "Cipher is going to complete him. Seth is going to become Raykyoudon." She looked up at the confused faces of her friends, not bothering to hide her tears. "The Pokémon that took Seth is the same one from my nightmare. It's going to kill all of you. Seth will turn into Raykyoudon and the world will die."

"The dragon? That was Rayquaza, a legendary Pokémon from Hoenn." Brendan remarked aloud, "I wondered why it was here. According to Hoenn legend, Rayquaza has the ability to seal the weather conditions of an area. That local area can't be affected by rain or drought or anything unless it leaves. It uses the wind to manipulate the climate."

"Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Groudon." May murmured and gasped, "Raykyoudon! It's all three put together as one!" Rui nodded sadly.

"Seth isn't a normal person. Cipher created him from DNA taken from Groudon and Kyogre to be a super-legendary Pokémon. They wanted him to have the power to control the weather. It didn't work. They must have been missing one more piece of DNA." she murmured. "Now they have it and they're gonna use it on Seth to finish the experiment."

"A being with all that power is a serious threat to the world. What would it be capable of doing?" Red asked as the Pikachu on his head yelped in shock.

"My dream said he would kill the world by stopping the elements. Winds, water, earth and sunlight, all of it would stop working." Rui murmured. Pikachu shook his head and leaped down from Red to cry out to the group.

_"It's worse than that! Ash, listen to me! Groudon doesn't just have power over sunlight and heat; it controls ground, too! It **created** land! It has the power to destroy it, too! Trust me; I've done a lot of learning about ground types!"_ Pikachu cried as Red translated it for his friends, who gaped at the mouse. _"If Cipher can make this Pokémon exist, and it goes crazy, they won't have a weather god! They'll have a demon that can go out of control and destroy this **planet**! It can shatter the world just by thinking about it! With power over the land, Raykyoudon can just break Earth into pieces and send it all flitting away into space like an old puzzle!"_

"Oh God." May whispered as Rui wailed and covered her face with her hands. "Think of it. The continents just shattering, waters flooding, the heat of the sun sucking moisture out of everything and the winds... The winds would seal the world from the atmosphere. We'll never have rain unless he commands it, we won't have air to breathe unless he allows it! We won't even have Earth if he gets the idea to just screw us all!"

"Red... what are we going to do?" Silver asked shakily, "This is more than just stopping an evil team. This is preventing a cataclysm that's on the verge of beginning!" The trainer looked down at his partner's pale face and nodded.

"We do what we can. First, we restore power to Kanto and see what's going on at the Plant. Then we go to the Indigo Plateau. The Shadow Pokémon will have to wait, we can't let Cipher finish the Earth Seal." he remarked and headed for the cockpit, "Rui! Stay on this helicopter! Everyone else, get ready for battle!"

"But you're all going to **die**!" Rui screamed, "Why won't you listen to me? You can't stop Seth or Rayquaza! They're going to **kill** you!"

"If there's a chance that we can stop it, we'll take it at any cost!" Silver declared, courage returning with the plan, "We'll stop the Earth Seal no matter what! Even if we have to destroy Seth to do it, we'll save the world!" Rui sobbed as she hugged the broken machine in her arms.

_"Let me go back."_ Seth's voice from the dream echoed in her head, _"I have to go back to the beginning. It's all you can do to help me."_

"Go back." Rui whimpered, "I have to let Seth go back when I see him. But back to what? To where?"

* * *

Seth looked up as Ein opened the door to the room and watched him warily. Calm and collected, the Snagger stood and walked up to him, allowing himself to be taken to the laboratory. They said nothing to each other as they entered the room.

"Now then..." Ein finally said after making sure everything was locked and secured, "What did you want to propose?" Seth didn't answer right away, merely studied the older man. "And if you think of trying anything to harm me in any way, take a look at that machine over there." the scientist added with a sly grin, jerking his thumb at the Shadow Machine. The twins and the nearly purified Pokémon pounded against the barriers holding them prisoner.

_"Seth! Get us out of here! He's going to make us Shadow! Save us!"_ Pluto cried, pawing at the force field that held them all. Seth glanced at them coolly, then turned back to Ein. _"Seth? What's the matter with you?"_

"What makes you think I care anymore?" the Snagger asked the scientist. Ein looked startled. "You probably saw what happened when I trusted others. I was rejected for what I was." Seth clenched a fist tightly and glared up at him. "I want to make them pay. So here's my deal. You dragged me into this, right? I'll help you with the Earth Seal, getting the damn thing started and all. Conquer the world for all I care. It was gonna go to hell, anyway; you might speed up the process." He grinned maliciously, "All I want in return is the ability to go back to those idiots in the forest and pay them back double what they did to me!" The Pokémon cried in shock and disbelief.

"How do I know you're actually going to do this? What if you're lying to me?" Ein prodded, suspicious of this sudden change in Seth's attitude. He had expected a cry of outrage at the sight of his beloved twins about to become Shadow Pokémon, not an uncaring glance in their general direction. The Snagger walked over to the computer and picked up the two ear pieces that Ein had planned to use on him.

"You want your information? Take it. You need it to finish the plan." Seth replied with a cryptic smile as he placed them over his ears, "Well? Boot up the transfer process and let's do this. We don't have much time. Red and the others are making their way to the Power Plant to restore the electricity to Kanto's cities. The sooner we have the Earth Seal operational, the better." Ein blinked a few times, then smiled as he started up the machine.

"Welcome back to Cipher, Mr. Evice." he murmured as he opened the program and watched the temperature control read normal, sure proof that Seth was willingly allowing the transfer of data.

Seth merely smiled cruelly as he leaned back against a table and watched the data flow. _Yes, I'll go back. And then the real fun begins,_ he thought to himself, letting his hand slide unnoticed underneath his jacket sleeve to touch the silver steak knife bound to his arm...


	4. Taking Steps

Ch 4

The legendaries grew more anxious with each passing minute the final three didn't appear. Celebi flitted about in a semi-panicked state, wringing her tiny hands. With time leaving her behind as important events began the countdown to a final confrontation, the Grass-Psychic was beginning to become unnerved.

_"They should have been here already! I told them this last year! That should have been plenty of time to get here!"_ she wailed at Lugia, who merely raised an eyebrow and shrugged his shoulders.

_"Did you take into account the time it takes for them to think over what you said?"_ Latios asked with a wry grin. Celebi paused in mid-air, mouth open in surprise, then flitted about again, wailing louder.

_"You just had to bring that up, didn't you?"_ Jirachi grumbled as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. _"Duuuude! Someone shut her up!"_

The ground began rumbling and the group of Pokémon looked around themselves, trying to figure out the cause. Near the trio of Kanto birds, cracks began to form in the earth, pushing up forcefully from below. The birds flapped out of the way and stared at the three heads that finally poked up from the ground, each one a different element, each one with seven eyes arranged in odd formations on their faces. Celebi blinked and yelled angrily at them.

_"It's about time you showed up! Regice, Regirock, and Registeel! What took you guys so long to get here?"_ she barked. The three Pokémon stared back at her.

_"Are..."_ Regice began to say. The legendaries waited a minute. _"We..."_ Jirachi smiled brightly and dropped his head down on Raikou's back to finish his nap. _"Late...?"_

_"Not quite, but don't think too hard about it. You'll melt."_ Ho-Oh snickered and reached out with a talon to pull them out of the ground. The three oddities of the legendary Pokémon of Hoenn had spent most of the year traveling from Hoenn to Kanto, a long trek for the slow-minded trio. _"Well, now that we are finally all together, shall we make for the Indigo Plateau?"_ Celebi fiddled with her fingers and shook her head.

_"No, we can't. Not yet. There's something going on. The future is shifting."_ she muttered. She looked up at the group with a serious expression. _"I'm going to check the new possible outcomes. I'll be back soon." _she added and vanished in a burst of bright green light, blinking out of time and space. Mewtwo sighed and stretched out on a sunny patch of ground, the Mew now curled up on his belly.

_"And here I thought it was going to be quick and painless. I could have stayed home in bed."_ he grumbled under his breath.

* * *

The Power Center was tucked behind several large hills that hid it from normal view. One one side was the ocean, and it had been through that ocean that Team Berserker had snuck up and took control of the building. With grunts patrolling the outside perimeters and undoubtedly more within, the band of heroes knew they had to work quickly and stealthily to get in and restore the power. Rui watched Red pull a small earpiece from his pocket and place it in Pikachu's ear. Silver pressed herself against a large boulder and held up her compact mirror, looking through it for guards. May and Brendan shifted their teams around; using the legendaries would draw attention, so they swapped in for normal Pokémon. May's new lead Pokémon was the Blaziken she had raised from a Torchic; Brendan opted for his Altaria.

"How's Seth doing?" Red asked as he opened his red PokéDex and pressed a few buttons within it. Rui opened the PDA and made a scan for the tracking chip.

"He hasn't moved from the forest since we left it." she replied, "They must be holding him prisoner there. But why so close to Pallet Town? And to Viridian City?"

"Team Rocket's old headquarters was stationed in Pallet Forest. The first time it was destroyed, it was by a Pokémon named Mewtwo." Red replied as he watched the screen of his PokéDex darken and turn black, booting up a small map of the area and plotting a route in it. "The second time, I blew it up. Cipher must have rebuilt it to house themselves for when this day came."

"Why hasn't he tried to contact you?" Silver asked the redhead while keeping a watch on the patrols.

"Maybe they knocked him out or took away his PDA. Or maybe he's already been turned into a monster..." Rui whimpered and rubbed at her eyes, "I wish I hadn't been so mean to him!"

"That's all in the past. Let's focus on now. We will help Seth once we have the Power Center working again." Red murmured and looked to Pikachu. _"Okay, you know the drill."_ Pikachu nodded with a grin.

_"Of course! This is easy! Who can resist little old me when I turn up the charm full blast?"_ the mouse replied and looked over at Silver.

"We have two guards at the door. Two patrolling the perimeter roughly 500 paces from the door, and another one stationed near the clump of rocks we were hoping to use as cover. That's about five yards from the buddy patrol, so if we can take out the rock guard we'll have it made." Silver reported and smiled back at him. "Red, you take me to all the nicest places."

"Only the best for you." the trainer replied with a grin as he pulled a small harness from his backpack and strapped it around Pikachu, flipping a pair of tubes from the sides and locking them into position. "These should take care of the guards. Go!" The mouse nodded and dashed off, scampering under the cover of the setting sun towards the guard at the clump of rocks.

"So what was that?" Brendan asked Red as they peered down at the PokéDex, "And what's this? PokéDexes haven't had that design since they were first made by Professor Oak! It's an antique!"

"This is Dexter, the first PokéDex I ever had. He went through several upgrades, but finally I had him converted back to the old casing. He looks like an ancient piece of crap, but trust me. I've cracked him open and added some features no normal Dex would have." Red replied, picking up a headset and pulling it on, flipping the microphone down over his mouth. "This is the MasterDex, a mini-computer capable of destruction at the digital level. I used it to destroy the Team Rocket base when I was fifteen years old." He glanced back at the group, taking in their wide-eyed looks. "The thing Pikachu is wearing is another of my craft projects, a harness carrying two tranquilizer launchers. It can hold other things, but tranks are my favorite items to use when infiltrating buildings."

"You lead an interesting life, Red." May murmured, slightly worried over the mental state of their new leader.

"Don't ask why I do it. I might have to kill you if I answer." Red added and opened the com to Pikachu. _"How you doin', pal?"_

_"Almost there. ETA fifteen seconds."_

_"Locked and loaded."_

_"ETA ten seconds. Nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two..."_

Red pressed a single button on the MasterDex and Silver used her mirror to watch the guard crumple to the ground. Pikachu hopped to the top of the rocks and pressed his body down, raising his tail as a signal.

"Let's go." Red murmured and timed the group to the patrolling men, then dashed for the rocks, following the route plotted by the computer. When all of the members were safely hidden within the next clump, he checked the fallen guard's pockets and came away with a card key. "Typical Grunts. This one is following Team Rocket's old rules. Team Berserker must have some of their former members."

"Alright, now we have to get to the door." Brendan remarked brightly, "That should be easy!" He blinked as Red began stripping off his jacket and shirt. "Eh? What are you doing?"

"Getting us in. Help me get the uniform off this dude. I might not look like a bodybuilder, but I have muscle enough to pull off a simple Rocket grunt. Pikachu doesn't have a second trank to cover the second guy, but I can fool the guards into thinking you're all prisoners."

"The things we do to save the world." Brendan sighed as he began pulling the grunt's shirt off.

* * *

Celebi stood watch over one of the many possibilities that became clearer because of Seth's capture. Frowning, she watched Indigo Stadium explode into nothing after the Snagger wrecked the Earth Seal machine before it was activated. She checked the crater for signs of life. Sera, Gonzap, Fein and Ein were all killed in the blast. Apparently, this event occurred before the group could arrive from Silph.

_"This doesn't look good."_ she murmured and gasped when she found the Snagger's body, left arm torn from him in the explosion and too badly burned to be recognizable. The only indication that it was the true Seth was a half extended wing from his back, dark blue feathers torn from it. _"This possibility must not pass! What brings it about?"_ Celebi whispered and spun into another branch of time.

The shattered planet of Earth drifted through space, pieces of continent and cooled magma slamming into the nearby worlds. The moon was flung into distant space, never to be seen again, while the remaining planets wobbled unsteadily without the life-filled world in their midst. Celebi floated in a protective bubble, sadly watching the events. This version of Seth's future was growing ever clearer and more possible with each passing moment. Shaking her head, she winked out of the timeline to another.

* * *

Fireworks shot into the sky. Startled, Celebi fell from her hovering position and landed on the roof of a house in Agate Village. She sat up and rubbed her head, then looked over to see a parade of elderly trainers and young ones partying in the village. Balloons were released, Pidgeys flew around in joy, and ribbons and bows decorated every home. Everything was dressed in white. Why?

Hovering down, Celebi flitted about, hidden from the eyes of the happy party-goers. What was making this a future for Seth? Why would this be a result of Seth's capture? Was Agate celebrating the end of the Snagger?

"Eagun! What's it like to have an outlaw for an in-law?" one older man shouted and guffawed as the old trainer beamed happily.

"Not as bad as you'd think! I finally have someone to train with at my age! Hah!" he hooted. Celebi blinked and looked around for Rui. Where she was, Seth was bound to be nearby. There were Pluto and Jupiter, dancing about with black bow ties around their necks. Saturn and Neptune pranced with them, wearing tiny white veils on their heads. And sitting on a stage looking embarrassed but truly happy, was Seth, dressed in a tuxedo with the same white strip of zinc oxide across his face. Rui was waving joyfully at the group in her flowing white wedding dress. Celebi nearly fell from her hovering position again.

_"Wh-what? He's married in this future? To Rui? But that's what Raikou was yammering about! What's going on? What triggers this?"_ she cried.

"Hey, Seth! How does it feel to have the old ball and chain at last?" another old man called out to the newlywed Snagger. He rubbed his head and turned red, smiling broadly.

"It's not bad! I kinda like it! It'll take some getting used to, though." he answered and dug into a pocket. "Actually, I have something to commemorate the day Rui let me go back to stop the Earth Seal. It represents how I was able to do it." Celebi flew closer to take a look. If this little something could help her make this future happen, she'd do whatever it took to make it. It was the best future she found so far. Seth finally pulled out a silver necklace with a raindrop shaped diamond dangling from it. He held it up for Rui, who cooed in delight. "Rui, this is for you. For letting me go so I could come back. If it hadn't been for your words, I'd have let the storm tear me apart while I was stopping the Earth Seal." he told her softly. Rui smiled tearfully up at him.

"Let the rain fall." she whispered.

* * *

Ein finished the last touches of his new program and sent it with a password lock into Seth's mind. The Snagger didn't notice right away, eyes closed as he tilted his head back and chugged down a soda. The data transfer finally ended and the scientist sat back with a contented sigh.

"It's all here." he remarked happily, "All the data on Earth Seal is here."

"Great. So what the hell is it?" Seth asked, unclipping the earpieces and tossing them over his shoulder. He ignored the glares of his Pokémon and leaned over Ein's shoulder to study the information. "And why'd you build it at Indigo Plateau?"

"It was the highest point here that had the best climate to control. Your role in the Earth Seal is to empower it and allow it to control your weather powers to seal the world from its climates until they agree to obey our rule." Ein replied, printing out a few sheets of the data. "Read through this and start working on exercising that power. When we're ready, you'll take the injection of Rayquaza DNA and complete your abilities." Seth picked up the pages and bit his lip.

_'Rayquaza DNA. Was that the small green thing Rui said would make me a monster?_' he thought to himself.

"Alright. I'll get started on this. Finish up here and have someone send dinner to me in my room." he remarked as he walked out. He paused and glanced back at the scientist, but Ein was absorbed in his work. Seth looked over at the glaring quartet of Pokémon and raised a finger to his lips, winking at them. Pluto blinked and smiled.

_"We trust you, Seth. Don't botch this!"_ he whispered to himself.

* * *

Sera prowled the halls, searching for her twin. She had found his room empty and Gonzap had gone missing, so it was only natural that she would put two and two together, and start rampaging through the hideout. She found Gonzap munching in the kitchen and immediately tore into him, demanding to know where Seth was and what he had done with him.

"The hell? I don't know! Fein was the last dude to talk to him and he's off at Silph!" the Snagem leader griped, "Anyways, what's up with Dakim? He hasn't called in or anything!"

"Dakim is holding the Power Center hostage. Seth's not in his room. I want to know where he is!" Sera hissed as the intercom crackled to life.

"Hullo? Ah, Fein? Are you there in the facility? Bring Seth some dinner. He's on his way to his room now and needs some food while he practices for the Earth Seal Project." Ein's voice called out.

"Ein! What is Seth doing outside of his room?" Sera demanded.

"Ah, Ms. Sera! He's agreed to help us in your world domination plan! Apparently, he's had a falling out with his allies and agreed to help us while he prepares for a little bit of revenge-seeking." Gonzap raised an eyebrow in surprise as Sera clapped her hands gleefully.

"I knew it! Treat him right and he'll come to us!" she cheered and promptly slapped Gonzap. "You see? And your constant beating on him is what drove him away to begin with! This plan would have followed through perfectly from the beginning if you hadn't been so hard up to get him!" she yelled and whirled off, "Now feed him!"

Gonzap fumed as he clenched his fists. Wring her neck, just once, he would love to wring her neck. And what was she thinking, saying he walked that side of the tracks? There had been doubts early in his life, but wine and women had cured all that. Right?

Right... It all went to hell the day Cipher talked him into becoming leader of a whole new gang of thieves. Team Snagem was his pride and joy, looting every town in Orre for cash and jewels. Now, with Cipher's backing, they were able to stretch out into the world of Pokémon stealing. They would send off the best they could get and in return, Snagem got cash, lots of it. Cipher had a condition, though. He had to have this punk kid named Seth in his ranks and teach him to be the best thief in the bunch. Seven years old and staring up at him as if he were blind, the runt went through the same training everyone else did and eventually mastered the finer arts of looting, pillaging and infiltrating for fast cash.

"Brat." Gonzap muttered as he put together the last of the burgers and shoved it onto another tray. He had watched him grow and mature, and the wine and women turned to booze and beating on him. The doubts had come back full force. If he had just given in like all the other Snagem members, Gonzap would know that he was just as weak as everyone else and go back to the chicks that he had in his private room. But nooo. Seth had to be stubborn and not only take the abuse, but purposely seek it out.

He had been testing him.

"I'd like to wring his neck, too. Damn Evices." Gonzap growled as he stomped towards Seth's room and twisted the doorknob. Yanking the door open, he was greeted by a sudden shriek of anger. "What now, you damned moron?" he snapped back.

"Learn to knock, you roach-headed idiot!" Seth yelled, clutching the black terry robe tighter around him, "Can't a guy get out of a shower without some jerk barging in?" Scowling, Gonzap set the tray on the floor and slammed the door shut.

Yeah, the doubts were coming back again.

* * *

Once sure that his former boss was gone, Seth shed the robe and checked his gear. As soon as he was free to roam the hideout, he made his way to the supply room and stocked up on essentials, mostly bugs and climbing gear. He despised heights, which explained his high level room, but as long as he didn't look down, he would be fine. He opened the balcony windows and stepped out, looking for a place to latch his safety line. Seth secured it around the rail of the balcony and fired the grappling hook to the roof. It was the best he could think of, and the roof would help him locate Ein's lab again.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he began climbing up. The sun had sunk lower in the sky, and the darkness he was fond of was settling in, hiding him from view. This was his element, this was what he did best, before he became a Snagger. All he had to do was not fall off the lousy building and he'd have Ein's passwords to the system.

"Plan A. Please work. I really don't want to do Plan B." Seth murmured under his breath, "But if this fails... I'll make sure it all never comes to pass!"


	5. Cruel Revelations

Ch 5

The guards at the Power Center blinked as Red, disguised as the Rocket member, walked up to them with his friends tied to each other with ropes. He held up the card and they looked at it, then at him, then at each other.

"Eh, looks good to me. The boss'll quit hassling us now, I guess." one of the guards remarked and let him pass. Pikachu hid within the backpack, curled up in a ball and muttering to himself about the situation. "Any luck of us having some fun with the girlies?" the guard added with a leer, reaching up to stroke May's chin. She recoiled in disgust, holding her bound hands closer to her. Rui squealed in fright and whimpered as Silver snapped her teeth at the second guard, who made a pass at her skirt.

"After the boss has his way first. You know the rules." Red answered in a harsh voice, "Get back to your posts and make sure the Snagger doesn't show up. It was a bitch gettin' these punks while he was out."

"Right, right. I want the silvery one, though. I like 'em with sass!" the second grunt laughed and gave her a quick pat on the rear as they hurried into the building.

"I'm personally gonna wring his you-know-what off with my Scizor!" Silver hissed as they rushed down a hallway and paused to release the bindings. Red glared back down the hall as he untied them.

"Get in line. I'm killing him first." he muttered and glanced coldly back at the group's smirks, "Why are you smiling? I wasn't joking." Rui checked the PDA a second time and blinked.

"E-mail from Nett! Let's see. 'Dear Wes and Rui, I got some more out of the files. It's all really weird, but it involves a projected success and failure scenario. The success pictures a barrier of wind circling the globe and sealing the weather shifts from the planet. The failure scenario involves a mega-cell, a storm bigger than a normal super-cell thundercloud. If it is created, it will generate storms and natural disasters that humanity would be unable to avoid or survive. Both scenarios are based on figures that appear to be percentages of genetic code in Wes. If he doesn't have the right combination of Pokémon DNA when the Earth Seal absorbs him, the failure scenario becomes more probable. Good luck!'" she read aloud.

"Doesn't sound good." Brendan muttered, "A mega-cell. Now we have to worry about Seth whether or not he gets the last piece of DNA, 'cause either way, he's gonna destroy the world!"

"Then let's hurry and get the power back on." Silver told the group and they raced after her towards the main control center.

* * *

Seth rested on one knee as he let his mind drift and pull up a map of the building. It hurt less when he wasn't focused on it, but the information he would find was less clear. It was a compromise he had to make and the rough idea that he was now directly over Ein's lab seemed a good enough estimate. Unloading his ropes, he tied one around a nearby antenna and began repelling down the side of the building to the window of the lab. Cautiously, he peeked in and noted the absence of the scientist. Pluto was nuzzling his brother, trying to comfort him. The Blaziken was hugging the Gardevoir as they looked resigned to their fate. Plucking his glass-cutting tool from his belt, Seth carefully opened a hole in the window and unlocked it, then slid the pane up to allow himself entry.

"Hey, guys. Here to bail you out." he whispered to his loyal twins and opened the barrier that kept them trapped. He removed the devices on the Psychics and gave each Pokémon a PokéBlock treat.

_"I knew you wouldn't turn on us! Now let's go find Rui and the others!" _Jupiter exclaimed happily, hopping around Seth. The Snagger shook his head.

"I'm not going anywhere." he told them and picked up the Poké Balls that held them, sliding them into pouches that he hung around each one's necks, "Gardevoir, do you have Teleport? Do you remember that move?"

_"Teleport? Yes... I remember it. It's been so long..."_ the female murmured, touching her hand to her face.

"Good. I want you to Teleport everyone to wherever Rui is. You can find her in the Power Center." Seth ordered her, "All of you will obey her commands now, okay? She's as much your trainer as I was."

_"Why aren't you coming with us, Seth?!"_ Pluto cried, _"You can't abandon us! We need you to help us and save the other Shadow Pokémon!"_

"Because I'm not needed over there anymore." Seth replied darkly, "And the Snag Machine was destroyed. I can't snag Pokémon without it." The four looked at him worriedly, "I have things to finish up here. Just go already! I'll make it look like you escaped on your own!"

_"Please come back to us."_ Jupiter whispered as the Gardevoir focused her power and they all vanished in a flash of light. Seth sighed and picked up a small camera from his supplies, wiring it in a safe place to watch Ein's keyboard when he typed. Once the bug was in place, he searched the the lab for anything else of value. He found his PDA in a drawer and pocketed it, then picked up a chair and held it firmly as he glared at the Shadow Machine.

"No more." he hissed and threw it at the device, shattering the glass that held his friends in place. He picked it up and continued to ram it against the piece of machinery, rendering it useless. Alarms sounded at the first sign of destruction and Seth quickly threw the chair at the window, shattering the glass and covering up the neat hole that he had cut. Looking around briefly, he ran for the windowsill and grabbed the rope, swinging out to begin climbing back up the side of the building to return to his room.

With no time to collect the ropes, Seth tossed them away from the roof edge and darted back to the second rope leading to his room. He slid down it quickly and shut the windows to the balcony, throwing the curtains closed. Footsteps were clattering towards his room, growing ever louder as he stripped the gear from his clothes and threw them under the bed, then collected the tray of food.

The door flew open as he sat on his bed and picked up a sheet of data, one burger poised before his mouth. Sera looked in, furious, then spotted him glaring back at her.

"Do you mind?! I'm trying to study up on the Earth Seal! What the hell's going on?!" he snapped.

"We had a breakout! Get to the lab!" the woman demanded and whisked away, yelling for the other peons to start looking for the people responsible. Seth set the paper and food aside and hurried out, looking as angry as Sera.

* * *

Ein scratched his head in confusion at the mess in the lab, glass all over the floor and the Shadow Machine in ruins. Seth leaned against the wall as Gonzap poked at the wreckage. No one could understand what had happened.

"How could they have escaped? The Psychics were immobilized by my devices!" the scientist exclaimed and looked over at Seth.

"You should have made them Shadow Pokémon when you had the chance, Ein." Seth merely replied, "The Blaziken might have decided to use Fighting-type moves to break out. No matter, we have Rayquaza and it's more than enough to overcome whatever Pokémon are sent to stop us."

"Get Dakim on the phone and ask him why the hell he hasn't reported in!" Gonzap snapped, glaring with suspicion at the Snagger.

"I already talked to him after Seth told me about the rest of his former friends." Ein grumbled, "He's preparing a trap for the trainers and any contact now will undoubtedly make things go awry." Seth made a note of that and shrugged.

"Why? What kind of Pokémon can stand for very long against Dakim's Ground and Rock team?" he asked, "Let him know that we've had a breakout and to keep his eyes open for my old pals."

"The Shadow Jolteon Dakim is using now is still having some obedience issues. We were lucky it obeyed long enough for us to take the Plant, but calling it out in battle too much may enable it to break free of our control." Ein replied, "It shouldn't be a bother. Without you there to aid them, the trainers of the Johto and Hoenn regions won't be able to stop Dakim."

"Good. I just don't want them harmed. I plan on delivering the punishment myself." Seth pointed out coolly as Ein shook his head at the wreckage and ordered a few peons to start clean up.

"I'd be more upset about the Shadow Machine, but with the blueprints in the database, I can easily build another." he remarked. The Snagger blinked and held up a hand as Ein began to leave.

"Wait, Ein, do you have the blueprints to the Snag Machine as well? The portable one?" he asked. The scientist nodded slowly. "Those were stored in my mind as well? Could you use it to build me another?"

"Why?"

"May and Brendan of the Hoenn region both have legendary Pokémon, rare and powerful. I want to snag them and use them against the group." Seth told him with a cruel smile, "Think of it as the ultimate pay-back, using their own Pokémon against them to get revenge! Besides, after the Earth Seal is activated and I finish my job, won't you need to start snagging Pokémon again, anyway?"

"You have a point there. All right." Ein replied carefully, wary of the request, "I'll get started on it as soon as this lab is cleaned." With that, he left the room to get some rest. Gonzap followed Seth out, grumbling under his breath. The Snagger looked back at him in irritation.

"What the hell do you want? Get lost." he growled.

"I don't trust you one bit, Seth. You double crossed us once before, what makes you think I'm gonna sit back and watch you ruin a good thing for me?" the Snagem head sneered.

"I have my reasons for doing this. Now go jack off in a corner or something. I have work to do." Seth hissed and continued on for another few steps before a fierce blow to his back stunned and threw him to the floor. He struggled to get up as Gonzap's boot came down on him, pinning him to the cool white tile.

"I told you already, brat. We have catching up to do. You gotta make up for all the crap you put me through ever since I laid eyes on you. Stuck up, whiney little rugrat." the boss snarled. Seth gasped for air, the heavy combat boot pressing down on his back making it difficult to breathe. "Now, where to start? Any preferences for your beating today, kid?" Gonzap snickered, "C'mon, runt, I ain't got all night. I got a woman ready for me at my place, so let's get this done with!" The Snagger didn't answer. "Fine, then. I'll pick it out myself." With that, he lifted his foot away and brought it down with all his weight on the back of Seth's still injured left shoulder. He shrieked in pain, jerking up and collapsing as his arm went numb from the blow.

"Aw, poor wittle Snagger got hurt?" Gonzap laughed and kicked him hard in the side, shoving Seth aside like so much old trash. The collision with the wall dealt a second blow to his shoulder and he cried again. "Heh, yeah, just like the good old days, eh, Seth?" the Snagem boss remarked with a grin as he grabbed the younger man by the collar and lifted him up off the floor. With only one arm struggling against the grip of the bigger man's fist, Seth kicked feebly, then cried again as he was slammed back against the wall. The scenario was all too familiar, Gonzap had done the same thing to him in the Shadow Pokémon Lab in Orre. But back then, Rui was there to heap abuse back on the Snagem leader, an action that had surprised Seth and made him look at her with additional respect.

"No!" Seth cried weakly, twisting under the hand that held him suspended by his neck. There was no one around to help him, Rui was gone, the twin Eons were gone, not even Sera was around to scratch and claw at the hulking man that held him captive.

"What should happen to you next, old pal?" Gonzap sneered, squeezing his hand tighter around the Snagger's neck.

_'Come on, Seth! You've got the powers of the legendary Pokémon in you! Use them!'_ his thoughts yelled through his mind. Hoping that it would work again, Seth pulled his hand away from the huge fist and thrust it forward, channeling all the energy of his anger and desperation into it. Like before in Hoenn, waves of pale blue flew forward from his hand, slamming into Gonzap and hurling him away with a huge force. Seth dropped to the floor, gasping as he put the hand to his neck.

"What the hell was that?!" the boss shrieked from where he lay in pain across the hallway. The Snagger retched once, coughed, then got to his feet and stumbled quickly for his room. "You're not getting away! Get back here!" Gonzap yelled, scrambling after him. Seth half turned back to him and threw out his hand again, repeating the attack. Gonzap tumbled backwards onto the floor once more, cursing loudly as Seth ducked into his room and slammed the door shut, locking it before allowing himself the luxury to sink to the lush carpet.

Pulling his knees closer, Seth dropped his head onto his arms and sobbed. He berated himself for the weakness of 'crying', but after all that had happened, after all that he knew was going to happen, it seemed to be the only thing he could do right. Short of killing himself right away, at least.

"Rui..." he murmured under his breath, "Please help me..."

* * *

Celebi returned to the group of legendaries with a smile. They looked up at her expectantly, wondering why she was in such a happy mood. Giggling, she flew around each Pokémon in joy.

_"Bi bi bi! I found it! I found the best future Seth could have as a normal human person!"_ she declared, spinning enthusiastically through the air. The group brightened a bit.

_"Really? And how does that take place?"_ Latios asked, cocking his head. Celebi paused and scratched her head.

_"Uh... something about rain. I didn't take notes on it."_ she replied in an unsure voice. The legendaries groaned in unison. _"But I'm sure it'll come up again when we get to Indigo Plateau, so let's get going!"_ she declared.

_"Great. At last, we get to do something."_ Mewtwo grumbled as he sat up and popped his spine, _"So who's teleporting the royal trio over there?"_ The group looked over at the Regis, all of who stared back at them blankly.

_"We..."_ Registeel began to say. The legendaries waited._ "Can..."_ A few Yanma buzzed by as they continued to wait. _"Walk..."_

_"Hell no!" _Raikou demanded, _"They ain't walkin' themselves to Indigo Plateau! We'll be dead by the time they get halfway over!"_ A few others began to agree with him.

_"That's okay! We can teleport them ourselves! Can't we, Mewtwo?"_ Mew remarked brightly, looking down at her clone from her perch on his head. He pouted.

_"Wait a second. Do I look like I run a delivery service here?"_ he grumbled, _"All right! But only because I want to get this over and done before that one dude comes after my ass again!"_

_"What did you do to Ash this time?"_ Celebi demanded.

_"Heh, lemme just say the man doesn't know where to hide his fermented Berry Juice stash from me and leave it at that."_

* * *

_"I don't like this. It's too quiet. We haven't had run ins with the grunts and the place feels deserted."_ Pikachu griped as the heroes raced to the central control room. Red and the gang stopped at the door and pressed themselves to the wall as he slowly opened the door with the Card Key.

_"Don't have much time to think about it, but you do have a point there. What's going on?"_ he muttered as he peeked into the room. He could see the maintenance crew tied up and set aside against walls. No sign of the ringleader, though.

"Come on! Let's free them! It's clear!" Silver exclaimed as she scanned the room herself. She rushed in with the others before Red could utter a warning. "Hey, everyone! You're gonna be okay now!"

"That's what you want to believe! I'll crush your chances of stopping us as easily as I'll crush your body!" Dakim's voice boomed as he leaped down from above and slammed into the floor. The resulting earthquake knocked the group to the floor as Red raced in to help them.

"What has your boss done to Seth?! What are you doing to him right now?!" Rui demanded, still clutching the wrecked Snag Machine in her arms.

"More importantly, how did you get the jump on us?" Red hissed, the Pikachu on his shoulder growling fiercely. Dakim laughed as he slammed his feet into the tile, preparing himself for battle.

"Funny thing, the two of you asking about the same guy!" he crowed, "Seth told me all about you guys coming to the rescue of these pathetic weaklings!" The heroes glared up at him. "Don't believe me, eh? He mentioned wanting me to roughen you up some, to get you ready for his revenge, seeing as how you guys went and threw him to the curb for no reason." He grinned and cracked his knuckles. "He's decided to join our cause, and his personal order to me was to make sure you all know that Seth Evice is in town!"

"Red, we'll free the people and get them clear. Can you do something about this guy? You know Kanto Pokémon better than any of us." Brendan whispered to the newly appointed leader of the group.

"Yeah, get these guys out of here. I know an old fashioned way of stealing Pokémon." Red replied under his breath and held up a Poké Ball. "Dakim! For the privilege of beating the holy hell out of us, you must defeat me in a Pokémon battle!"

"You got guts, kid, for someone that wussed out on the Indigo League years ago!" the Admin declared as Silver, Brendan, May and Rui ran to untie the crew of the Power Plant. Red clenched his teeth angrily. "Hit a sore spot, didn't I? Come on, kid, what's a punk like you doin' out in the woods?"

"Getting stronger." the trainer replied hotly as Dakim laughed and sent out his Solrock to start the battle, adding in a Claydol for good measure. "Two on two? I can handle that." Red threw down the Poké Ball and released Blastoise once again. "Pikachu! Get in and help him out!" The mouse leaped from his shoulder and landed in a perfect flip on his feet.

_"Pika!"_ he declared and electricity crackled from his cheeks.

"Looks like you've forgotten the basics of battle, kid! Ground- and Rock-types always pulverize Electrics!" Dakim howled and threw out a hand, "Solrock and Claydol! Earthquake!" The heroes scrambled to get away with the freed hostages as Red stood his ground. Both opponent Pokémon spun and slammed the ground, shaking the building to its foundation. Red leaped up onto the Blastoise's shell as it withdrew into it for safety, the Pikachu hopping on with him. They grinned at the Admin.

"Maybe you should read up more on my life before making stupid assumptions like that." Red remarked, "Blastoise! Hydro Pump!" The turtle fired water from the two cannons on its back, slamming the two Rock-types head on with the full force of the twin geysers. Pikachu grinned and cut loose with a Thunderbolt, doubling its effectiveness on the normally unaffected Pokémon because of their prior soaking. Dakim recalled them both and glared at him.

"Boy, you just made a mistake." he growled and pulled out the Poké Ball containing the Jolteon. He was told not to use it after taking over the center, but what harm was there in unleashing it on a Water-type and another Electric? They would be taken out quickly in one blow from the Shadow Rush and he could start in on using the punks as punching bags. He let the Jolteon out onto the battlefield. "Go! Use your Shadow Rush!"

The Jolteon flashed onto the scene and glared around itself hatefully. Red blinked and cocked his head, watching it quiver with barely contained fury. Pikachu looked confused and then glanced back at his friend.

_"He looks kinda stoned to me."_ he remarked.

_"Getouttamyheadgetouttamyhead."_ the Jolteon muttered rapidly. Red frowned and studied it carefully. This Pokémon was acting incredibly strangely, could it be a Shadow Pokémon, like Rui had talked about? _"Getouttamyhead!"_

_"Jolteon, listen to me. Can you understand me?"_ Red called out to it. It jumped and gathered dark energy into itself before slamming its body against the Blastoise. _"Jolteon! Snap out of it! I can get you out of here, but you must get your Poké Ball away from Dakim!"_ he yelled.

"Hey! Talk normally and fight me!" Dakim bellowed, "I'll deliver your bodies to Ms. Sera and she'll reward me with the most powerful Pokémon in your team!"

"Over my dead ass." Red grumbled as the Jolteon shook its head and suddenly went wild, turning on its master and slamming his head into his legs. "Pikachu! The ball!" The mouse darted in and grabbed the Poké Ball as Dakim roared in pain and kicked at the Jolteon, a bad idea as he was barefoot and the Electric-type was covered in spiky fur.

_"Red! Catch!" _Pikachu yelled, hurling the ball his way. Red snatched it out of the air and recalled both of the Pokémon as the lights suddenly came on.

"The gang must have powered up the plant manually!" he exclaimed, "Pikachu! End this with Lightning Storm!" The mouse charged up all the electricity in his body and unleashed it into the air, forming a small hurricane of raw electric power that spun towards Dakim and struck with dozens of bolts of lightning. The two friends raced out of the room, leaving the Admin to shriek in pain from the uncharted attack that would leave him dead at the worst.

Red and Pikachu met with Silver and their friends as they raced through the Power Plant to the exit. The group looked somewhat frazzled and Brendan quickly explained what had happened.

"By the time we got to the generator, we'd clobbered about thirty grunts and peons! Man, it was havoc! I've never seen so many guys run off at the sight of my Altaria!" Brendan declared, "I basically used Perish Song and Sing to keep knocking them out left and right!"

"My Blaziken got rid of the Magnetons that were sapping power from the generator. That's what was keeping it from working properly. Now that it's clear, all the power should return to Kanto!" May added.

"All that's left to do now is get to the Silph Co. building and free it from that siege! If they get Master Ball technology and make dozens of them for their other Snag Machines, or Seth, we're all in trouble!" Silver cried.

"But Seth would never snag Pokémon for Cipher!" Rui wailed, "Why do you think that he's a bad guy?!"

"Didn't you hear what that guy said?!" Brendan shot back, "Seth told him we were coming and gave them the order to ambush us! That's proof enough that he's one of them now! We don't have a choice now!"

"Nooo!" Rui cried, unwilling to accept the words.

"We have to kill Seth to stop this takeover! We **can't** let him live!"


	6. Time of Reckoning Nearing

A/N: I apologize if this sounds rushed, but I was forced prematurely off the computer before I could give this chapter my full attention. So I had to basically slap together something for you. Again, my apologies if it doesn't live up to my normal standards, I may replace it later on with a better version of this chapter.

* * *

Ch 6

As Red and friends made their way out of the plant, four Pokémon materialized outside and began to make their way in. Jupiter and Pluto led the way, racing for the door and preparing themselves for a fight to reach their friends. They didn't expect to run into them as soon as they entered the building. Rui looked around the collided group and blinked at them.

"Jupiter! Pluto! You're here? How?" she exclaimed.

_"Boy, are we glad to see you! Seth told us to find you and stay with you! He let us out of the Shadow Machine at Cipher's new secret base but he didn't come with us!"_ Jupiter babbled, unaware that only one person in the group understood them. Red quickly began translating as soon as he sat up. _"I don't know why he didn't come with us, but he gave us our Poké Balls and told us to protect you!"_

"This is too confusing." Brendan grumbled as he rubbed his head, "First the guy tells the bad guys where we're going, then he turns around and sends us reinforcements. What the heck's going on in his head?"

"I told you he's not evil! We have to find him and save him before Cipher finishes him with that last piece of DNA!" Rui cried and collected the pouches from the four Pokémon.

"Not yet. We still have to deal with the Silph Co. building." Red added as he led the group out of the Power Plant. "Once we have released it from Cipher's control, we can go after Seth directly." He held up the Poké Ball he had taken from Dakkim, "And I've already got the Shadow Pokémon so we don't have to worry about that. One down, several to go, right?"

"You think another one's at the Silph building?" May asked as she watched a boatload of policemen and policewomen rush onto the shore and head for them. "That's funny. A lot of those women look alike."

"The Officer Jenny Army tends to confuse newcomers to Kanto. You'll get used to it." Red replied with a grin, "Apparently, Gary had the sense to call in for reinforcements of his own for us." He led the group aside as the men and women in blue rushed the plant and started taking down grunts and peons that ran in panic. "Let's leave them to enjoy the battles here and head out ourselves." May nodded and released HeartSong, watching her friends board the dragon as Red and Silver climbed onto the Charizard that the Kanto champion raised. "Follow us! We're going to Saffron City!"

* * *

Dawn rose over Kanto as Ein readied the lab for work on the new Snag Machine. He printed out the blueprints and began work on the circuitry for the new device. Sera walked in on him, fresh and cheerful. She noticed him working on the machinery and raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Ein, what are you doing?" she asked, walking up to him and peering at the object.

"Building another bloody Snag Machine for Seth. He wants to use it to snag the legendaries his former allies have." Ein replied as he began building the skeleton for the Snag Machine. Sera lit up and clapped her hands together.

"What a wonderful idea! Ein, can you enhance the machine for him? Make it to where he **always** snags a Pokémon?" she exclaimed. Ein paused and looked up at her in incredulousness. "I know you can do it! You'd better!"

"And how am I to pull off this wondrous miracle?" the scientist muttered, resuming work on the skeleton. Sera thought carefully and smiled.

"The Master Ball technology in Silph. If we can get that into the Snag Machine somehow, and have every ball Seth charges with Snag power also copy the 100 percent capture signature of the Master Ball, would that work?" she cooed. Ein looked up at her again.

"How much of my research have you been reading lately?" he asked suspiciously as she laughed and spun around the room, silver wings flapping from the back of her dress. "Call Fein and tell him to bring us a Master Ball from the building. I'll incorporate its technology into the Snag Machine." he added, resuming his work. "And see if Seth is awake yet. I need him to come and test this when it's ready."

* * *

Seth grumbled as he buried himself into the blankets of his bed. The servant peon Sera had sent for him had thrown open the curtains to the room, looked at the rope dangling down in confusion, then tried to shake him awake.

"Sir! Mr. Evice! Ms. Evice would like for you to wake up and meet her in the conference room." he remarked loudly.

"Go away." Seth griped back, "I'll meet her later." The peon shrugged and headed out to deliver the message. As soon as the door was closed, the Snagger crawled out of bed and dragged himself towards the private bathroom to freshen up. The night before for him had been plagued with odd dreams and he hadn't been able to sleep well. "Rain, rain, go away. I don't want to blow my brains." he muttered under his breath as he washed his face in the sink.

It took him time to look normalized again, but he continued to ponder the dreams as he walked to the conference room. He remembered it clearly; a mirror image of himself standing in an open field in the center of what looked like a colosseum stadium. His arms were stretched up towards a huge storm that spun all around above him. The stadium looked half destroyed and the maelstrom that roared in fury continued to chew away at it. Suddenly, a pair of dark blue wings spanned from the other Seth's back, the deep colored feathers ruffling in the winds spinning around him. The sight had taken him by surprise, but as he watched he could see the representation of himself struggling with the storm. Was he trying to contain, control or release it?

Seth never knew the answer, because seconds later a shaft of lightning far larger than any bolt he had seen before suddenly struck down and slammed his other self. The dream ended with an explosion of light and dark blue feathers that scattered to the winds, a girl's scream of anguish piercing the air.

"I suppose this means Plan A is gonna fail." Seth grumbled as he entered the room and looked over at Sera, who sat daintily in her seat and watched the screen on one wall. Rayquaza was circling the Indigo Plateau. He took note of the stadium and realized with quiet horror that it greatly resembled the one in his dream.

"Good morning, dear brother." Sera murmured as she flicked the screen off and turned to him, "Sleep well?"

"Quite." Seth returned shortly, "What did you want from me? Short of my clothes in the corner over there." Sera smiled and leaned forward in her chair, golden hair draped over her shoulders.

"Pooh. Spoil my fun, why don't you? Actually, I'm going to tell you a rather fabulous secret." she replied, "Ein is enhancing your new Snag Machine to copy the Master Ball's perfect capture signature into every Poké Ball you have."

"Meaning I'll be able to snag every Pokémon I set my sights on without fail." Seth finished for her. She nodded and sat back. "How is he going to pull that off?"

"Fein is currently 'acquiring' the Master Ball from Silph Co. in Saffron City. Once we have it, Ein will put it in the Snag Machine for you to use." Sera answered. Seth nodded. "But I'm curious to know why you decided to join us after all. I was actually hoping for a bit of a fight from you." she added with a purr and a coy look.

"You would have had one, if I had anything to fight for." Seth remarked coldly, "Brendan stole Rui from me. She rejected me because she didn't trust me, even after all I've done for her. Without her, I have nothing but the darkness that was part of me when you created me."

"So you decided to reject her too and join us for revenge?"

"If you wish to see it that way, yes. I did it for revenge."

"Wesley. Do you know that name? What it means?" Sera asked, looking distant and wistful. Seth blinked and shook his head.

"Only that it is my designation, the name Cipher's scientists gave me when I was completed." he answered. Sera waved the words away and tsk-tsked him.

"That's a lie and they knew it." she corrected him, "Wesley Evice was my older brother, and the only son of my father, Garik Evice." She gave him the wistful expression again. "Long ago, my father was a good man who ran a company dedicated to bringing water and forests to Orre through major terra-forming projects." Seth slid his hand into his pocket and fingered the PDA. He had to get to the lab and look at the secret tape, then contact Rui about the new events. He didn't have time for a story. "Wesley was his pride and joy. He went off to explore the world and become a famous Pokémon trainer." Sera went on and then turned dark, "And instead, he wound up dead."

"What?" Seth murmured in surprise. This was something he had never heard before.

"That's right. He went off and got himself killed by a wild Pokémon in some God-forsaken forest. The news of his son's death drove my father insane and he spent his fortune and time creating a super-legendary Pokémon to use the weather and conquer the world that had taken his son away." Sera clarified, "That's when he used my DNA and that of Groudon and Kyogre to create you, his new son. His legacy. You were his new pride, the bringer of the chaos he wished upon the Earth."

"The fat little clown of a figurehead is my father?" Seth shrieked in disbelief. Sera nodded with a smile. "That's why he sent those Snagem goons after me in Phenac the day I rescued Rui! He wanted them to drag me back to him?"

"That's right, little brother!" Sera cooed, "My handsome little brother and weather god. He wanted you back when he saw that you had run off on us before we could get you ready for the Earth Seal Project."

"Is that all you called me in for? To startle several years off of my life-span?" Seth grumbled, "Because you did a bloody fine job of it right there."

"The more you hang around Ein, the more you start to pick up on his favorite phrases." Sera muttered and shrugged, "Actually, there was something else I wanted to tell you. I just got reports in from one of our agents in the Power Plant near Cerulean City. Apparently, despite your telling us about your former friends' attempts to break the plant free of our control, Dakim still failed to keep it under our power and lost the Shadow Jolteon he had in his possession."

"Really? What a shame." Seth replied with a grin. "And what happened to the old hothead?"

"Probably dead, according to one of our agents that escaped the police. Electrocuted by a little yellow rat, I think. That's Red's favorite Pokémon, right? A Pikachu?" Sera grumbled, "I'm starting to wonder if maybe having you on our side is really such a good idea."

"You wanted me here, right? So deal with it. And they're probably going to go after the Silph Co. Building next. Better warn Fein that they're on their way, or he might have a nasty surprise coming in the form of my true 'father'." the Snagger replied with the grin growing wider as he walked out of the room.

* * *

Fein pulled the Master Ball from within its safe and studied it carefully. The first thing he noticed about it was the large white 'M' stamped on it, the second was the purple color, the third was the fact that it had two pink spots on the top. He rolled it in his hands and looked over at the blubbering CEO in his chair.

"Can't you people come up with better colorings for your Poké Balls? Purple with pink polka dots? That's so gay it's not even funny." he lectured. He tossed it into the air, then caught it again. "Oh well. The boss wants a funky purple ball, the boss gets a funky purple ball."

A peon ran into the room and gasped for air before blurting out a message that the trainers of Hoenn, Johto, Kanto and Orre were just outside and currently entering the building. Fein scowled and opened the monitors to watch the five heroes run into the office building and start climbing the stairs and elevators to the top floor.

"Oh, great. Just what I need. People to come and ruin my perfectly good disguise." he grumbled, "Okay, you guys can deal with them. I have to deliver this ball to Sera and Ein." He tossed the peon a Poké Ball and headed for the window. "That right there is the only other Shadow Pokémon in our arsenal, so don't lose it! Stay up here and make sure you delay those annoying trainers for another hour or so. When I deliver this ball, everything will be set to go." With that, Fein climbed out of the window, climbed up a rope ladder and seated himself in the helicopter that waited for him.

"Oh, and I just wanted to stay in bed today." the peon moaned, clutching the little red ball in his hands.

* * *

Red and Silver both knew the Silph Co. building's layout, so they split their groups and took to the stairs, elevators, and warp tiles to reach the floor they knew the boss would be at. Grunts and peons did their best to stall for time and take them out, but fell to the wayside under the combined forces of Hoenn's two on two battle system, Johto's manipulative item hold combos, Kanto's pure power attacks, and Orre's stamina for battle. Rui cheered on the twin Eons as they fought their way to the top. Jupiter and Pluto were safe in their Poké Balls in her pocket, but Rui felt she had to purify the girls somehow. Battling seemed to work best with them, as they quickly began to remember former attacks like Bite and Psybeam. Shadow Rush, once their mainstay attack, became little more than a last ditch head-butt in comparison to their new favorites.

"What's that noise?" Silver remarked as they reached the final door. Red kicked it open and rushed inside to meet with who he thought would be the head man overseeing the Silph siege.

"I dunno. Sounds like the helicopter we rode around in." May replied. The peon caught sight of the trainers, counted them out, then did some quick math in his head. After rolling his eyes around in his head, he opted to live longer and tossed them the Poké Ball containing the Shadow Pokémon before throwing himself to the floor and begging for mercy.

"That was... disappointing." Brendan murmured and sighed, "You mean, I got all psyched up for a big battle and this is all we get? A sniveling little wienie of a grunt?"

"Hey!" Rui exclaimed and rushed to the window, looking out as Fein escaped the building in the chopper. "It's Fein! He survived the fall in Johto! He's getting away!"

"Hello, down there!" Fein called back cheerfully, holding up the Master Ball for them to see, "I suppose my recruit didn't do a good enough job of stalling you! I've actually been waiting to see you to the top so I could taunt you before I make my grand escape!" The others appeared at the window and glared up at him. "There you are! I've got what I was sent for and now I'm off to help conquer the world! With Seth and me working together to snag Pokémon, Cipher is unstoppable! See you around, maybe!" With those laughing words, the helicopter began to zip off towards the Indigo Plateau.

"Man, I hate bad guys with lousy senses of humor." Brendan grumbled as he moved away from the window and leaned against the wall. "Now what do we do?"

Red handed the ball to Rui and looked around. The CEO had fainted at the sight of two old heroes coming to his rescue, and the room itself looked fairly all right. There was no damage, save to the display case that once housed the Master Ball Fein had taken off with.

"Only thing we can do." he replied, "Go to the Indigo Plateau and finish this once and for all."

"By saving Seth!" Rui demanded, "I won't let you hurt him! He deserves another chance! He never did anything wrong!"

"It depends on how he reacts to us when we show up." May put in, "Actions speak louder than words. If he turns on us when we arrive, then we'll know for sure he's one of them." Rui pouted as they began to leave the building, then blinked as she felt her PDA go off in her pocket. Pulling it from her jacket, she opened it and gasped lightly at the mail.

It was from Seth.

* * *

_"Celebi, will you cut it out with the prophetic dreams stuff? It's driving people crazy!"_ Latios growled, _"Especially those that we **need** to keep sane!"_

Celebi smiled sweetly as Jirachi finished voicing a complaint of having been woken up again for another dream delivery, then slouched back into Raikou's fur for his nap.

_"I do what I can to make sure that the future I found is the one that comes to pass!"_ she remarked brightly, _"Rain, rain, come again! Make the future I see plain! Rain, rain, silver rain! Help to end Raykyoudon's pain!"_


	7. Beginning of the End

A/N: Almost there! Think of this chapter as a way of padding the last one. I worked well on this one, I believe. Enjoy!

* * *

Ch 7

Ein looked up from his work on the Snag Machine as Fein waltzed in, whistling cheerfully as he juggled the Master Ball, a diet cola, and an apple in his hands. He was followed soon afterwards by Seth, who popped cherries into his mouth from a bowl he carried. The scientist raised an eyebrow and looked between the two of them, then sighed.

"Bloody hell, I do wish you two wouldn't do that." he remarked with a twitch of his eyebrows as the twins leaned over the table to study the machine.

"I got the funky gay ball you wanted." Fein declared unnecessarily, tossing the ball to him. Ein caught it and slid the ball into a compartment built into the machine. Where once the round and silvery circle rested over the heart of its wearer, a chamber now existed in the Snag Machine, designed to hold the Master Ball and duplicate its perfect capture signature into every ball Seth would charge.

"You don't trust me to snag Pokémon on my own?" Seth asked irritably, eyeing the Master Ball's new place in his machine. Ein reached out and plucked a few cherries from the bowl, then nibbled at them.

"I never said that. Sera thought it would be a splendid way of ensuring that you never fail at capturing your targets." he replied simply and pat the machine. "Well, it's completed. Put it on and let's have a test of it." Seth barely contained his satisfaction over having his Snag Machine back, slipping it onto his arm and flexing it. It was perfect, like the machine had never left his body. The Master Ball was concealed behind the silvery panel over his heart, waiting for his first move.

"What am I supposed to test it out on? Should I re-snag the years that Sera startled out of me?" he asked dryly.

"Hey, good one!" Fein laughed as he brought out a notepad and started writing, "I gotta remember that one!" Ein waved his hand, cherry twig twisting in his mouth.

"Just charge a ball, then give it to me. I'll check its new signature and compare it to the Master Ball's code." he answered. Seth nodded and pulled out an Ultra Ball, holding it in his left hand. He held his arm straight out, focusing on the grip he held on the ball. The Snag Machine picked up the style of the grip, charged it with the specially configured Snag signature, then added the code from the shrunken Master Ball contained in the machine. The ball flashed once the charge was complete and Seth tossed the altered Snag Ball to Ein. He tapped open the container, then tossed him the Master Ball as well.

"Cool." Fein remarked and sipped at the diet soda, watching Seth's movements and memorizing them. "Dude, that one step is hard to get right."

"Then stop copying." Seth grumbled as Ein studied both signatures and smiled, tossing both balls back to him.

"I am a genius! It worked perfectly!" he declared triumphantly, "Now, let's get ready to go to Indigo Plateau!" Seth looked startled.

"What? Now?" he stammered in shock. This was going far too quickly! He had barely had the time to sneak the tape out of the lab when Ein went out for lunch and review it. It seemed his idea of reading the blueprints on the Earth Seal machine would fall flat. Without knowledge of the project, he wouldn't have a chance at destroying it or preventing it from using him.

"Why not now?" Ein asked suspiciously, eyeing him. "You **did** want to get this done and over with, didn't you?" Seth recovered quickly and coughed into his fist.

"Of course I do. I just thought we'd have lunch first, then go to the Indigo Plateau for our final move." he replied quickly and forced a smile. "I can't conquer the world on an empty stomach, you realize! Those cherries won't fill me up at all!" Ein looked at him strangely, then shrugged.

"I'll get my notes ready for departure. Fein, go get Seth some lunch." he finally said and began collecting various notebooks. The peon scratched his head, then rolled his eyes and walked out.

"Actually, Ein, why don't you go and grab a bite for yourself, too? I'll gather up the necessary materials and meet you at the cafeteria." Seth offered, picking up several books as well. He tried to sound casual. The scientist glanced at him, thought it over, then smiled.

"Now that I think about it, I could use a hot cup of tea about now. Get myself relaxed and limber for the next few hours. Gather the notes on the Earth Seal and I'll see you in twenty minutes." Ein replied with a contented sigh and left the lab himself. Seth waited until he was sure both men were gone, then sat at the terminal and began typing furiously. He had to know what he was going up against before he could be forced into a role he didn't want.

* * *

Rui read the message as Red and Silver helped the Jennys clear out the building of grunts and peons from Team Berserker. The subject was empty, but only because Seth didn't bother with headings. The fact that he sent a message at all was enough to warrant a look into the mail.

"_'Rui, this may be the only chance I get to send you my words. I wanted to say that it has been a joy and a pleasure to have spent so much time with you. You may hate me and distrust me, but I want to keep in my memory the girl I've come to care for so much. I plan on keeping our picnic in Agate Village last month as my final memory of us.'_" she read the letter to herself as May and Brendan rested nearby, exhausted by the siege fighting that took them straight from one day to the next with no time to sleep.

"'I know from a source I don't want to mention that my plan for stopping the Earth Seal from within will fail. Rui, I never meant to hurt you, and I still don't want to, but I promise this will be the last time that I will ever cause you pain. For the sake of this world that you love, and for you, so that you may find a better man, I will end any hopes that Cipher may have for using me. Don't come to Indigo Plateau. I don't think I can carry out my plan if you are there. Love always, Seth.'"

Silver sat beside Rui and sighed. The redhead stared at her PDA in shock, then looked up at her, eyes tearing up.

"Silver! We can't go to Indigo Plateau!" she cried. The trainer stared at her, confused, as Red appeared with a platter of hot coffee cups. "Seth wrote me a letter and he said we can't go to Indigo Plateau!"

"Figures the traitor would want to keep us away while he conquers the world." Brendan grumbled as he sat up for the coffee. He had been nudged awake in time to hear Rui's words. Rui turned on him in a fury and slapped the bottom of his cup, spilling the hot liquid onto his pants and making him shriek in pain.

"Shut the hell up! I didn't ask for your opinion, you bastard!" the normally quiet girl snapped, "Seth has a plan for destroying the Earth Seal, but for it to work, we **must** not go to the Indigo Plateau!"

"I'm afraid we can't do that." Red replied softly, ignoring the boy running to the bathroom with May chasing after. "We will continue as planned. If Seth fails in his plan, we'll be the last line of offense against the Earth Seal."

"But..."

"End of discussion. We'll be heading to the Indigo Stadium in one hour. Get some rest." the older champion told her shortly, "As we have said before, it doesn't matter if Seth is on our side or not, the fact that he lives is a threat to the world." Rui glared up at him, then blinked as his Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder and crackled with electricity. Red held up his hand to the mouse and it unleashed an electric burst that formed a shape in his palm.

The object resembled a dagger made of pure electricity, shaped like the Pikachu's tail and serrated along the blade. It was deadly to look at and hold, yet Red handled it casually and without pain.

"The Thundershock Dagger is the most lethal weapon in my arsenal, developed by Pikachu and myself over several years." Red explained calmly, "I'm sorry, Rui, but I will use this dagger to kill Seth. I promise it will be an instant death." The redhead burst into tears, burying her face in her hands as she sobbed. Silver rubbed her back soothingly but she jerked away from her touch.

"Red, I know that what you are doing is for the good of us all, but couldn't you show a little more tact and not display the murder weapon to her?" Silver hissed at her fiancée. Red shrugged and walked off, still holding the dagger in his hand. "Rui, please understand that we're not killers. We're not out to get Seth, we just know that if we had to choose between one life and thousands of others..." she trailed off, not willing to say the rest.

"And what if that one life is the one belonging to the man you loved?" Rui snapped at her angrily and ran from the group outside. Silver watched her go and sighed glumly.

"Red already experienced that. To save the lives of millions from a storm, he gave his own. Destiny and friendship saw fit to return his life to him." she murmured to herself, "Perhaps the same will see fit to give Seth another life."

* * *

Cipher and Red's group left their respective places at roughly the same time, both headed for the same destination. Watching from a safe distance, the group of legendary Pokémon trooped along the path up to the stadium. Mewtwo looked up at the jet carrying the Cipher group to the plateau and shaded his eyes.

_"That's sweet. Why couldn't we take a plane? God knows I have enough frequent flyer miles to cover all of us."_ he remarked for no real reason but to fill the group's minds with chatter.

_"For the same reason we didn't take the Rapidash Bus-lines." _Raikou grumbled, _"We're trying to pull a secret mission here, man!"_

_"I bought a trench coat and hat for nothing then?"_

_"We're almost there! Just another few minutes and we can witness destiny unfold!" _Celebi cheered, waving her hands about as the sun climbed higher into the afternoon sky.

_"Dang, and I didn't bring extra film for my camera."_ Raikou muttered. Entei shook his head and watched the jet descend into the stadium, Rayquaza circling over head and guiding their passage in.

_"Celebi, if Rayquaza can not see you, how will he be purified?"_ he asked worriedly, _"Seth can't possibly calm him with Pokémon massages! It would take him a whole day to do one massage!"_

_"The Time Flute he carries will do the job."_ Celebi replied, looking up at the dragon with a grim face, _"If Rayquaza can hear the song, it will act as my power and open his heart to his memories again. The problem is getting Seth to stay alive long enough to play it."_

_"That and getting him to play your summon at all. You know that it's his last Time Flute."_ Ho-Oh pointed out. Celebi smiled.

_"There's another one in Orre that he hasn't found yet."_ she revealed, _"At the top of Mt. Battle, a third Time Flute lays hidden. He just has to get over his fears and climb that mountain!"_

_"Hey, here comes the other guys."_ Articuno pointed out, watching the Latias and Charizard wing their way to the stadium. _"Latios, your sister sure has a ton of stuff hanging around her neck. That normal?"_

_"Cute Contest winner's ribbons. My sister is sickeningly cute when she knows what's at stake."_ Latios muttered as the group continued their climb.

_"Like what?"_

_"Her candy."_

* * *

Seth took a deep breath as the jet landed and Sera clapped gleefully. Gonzap glared out the window before getting up and following the group off the plane. They climbed the steps to the announcer's box and entered it to find another set of computer terminals. Ein left the backups of Seth's memories and the Cipher database next to one terminal, then booted up one of the computers.

"All right. Everything is set. Activating the Earth Seal!" he declared and input a series of codes. Seth watched as the unlit torch at the top of a set of stairs rose into the air, supported by a pole that emerged through it to create an antennae dish. The base of the pole was revealed to be a chamber, and the door slowly slid open. The Snagger swallowed hard and backed from the window.

"Getting cold feet, brother?" Sera whispered harshly, "Now is not the time to be thinking things over."

"I never said I was. I'm just mentally preparing myself." Seth hissed back and walked out of the room, "Get things set up and I'll meet you downstairs at the chamber. Don't take too long, my former friends might show up to stop us." The doors slid closed and he walked towards the device, mind racing. "Though I hope they don't. I don't want Rui seeing what I'm going to do." he whispered to himself and shook his head.

* * *

Fein grew bored of the boot up and decided to follow Seth to the Earth Seal chamber. He was excited by the prospect of finally having the whole venture done with so that he could get started on his next one; the perfect duplication of Seth Evice. He may be unable to mimic the Pokémon powers that the Snagger had been blessed with, but who cares, in the end? It was the intimidation factor from his presence that Fein wanted, the ability to command a room just by being there. In that lay power to control people. He smiled as he continued on. Things just couldn't get better.

* * *

Gonzap followed suit and left the room, eager to beat Seth to the chamber and finish the long-standing grudge. Far too many times had the Snagger escaped punishment for destroying his team, and his own security. The remarks and insults from both Sera and Seth were driving him closer to insanity. He was a man and he couldn't have those two Evice brats making him think he was anything but a man! There was only one thing that could be done.

"Kill them, duh." he muttered and smiled, a strange light flaring into his eyes, "Now why didn't I think of that before? To hell with this Earth Seal crap, I can take over the world my way! First I'll kill off the Snagger boy so he's not bothering me anymore, then the corporate slut goes! She was never good in bed anyway. No love lost there."

Gonzap laughed as he went on towards the Earth Seal.

* * *

Sera took the gun that held the injection of Rayquaza DNA and headed out after Seth. She had waited far too long for this. The knowledge of Gonzap and Fein out loose in the stadium meant little to her. She only knew that Seth was on his way to the Earth Seal, alone, and too far for anyone to rescue. She licked her lips and gripped the gun tighter.

At last, she would have him. She wouldn't wait. She would fire the gun and, just before the DNA took effect and transformed him into the weather god she dreamed of, she would have him. His last human thoughts would be of her victory over him. How sweet it would be.

"Just wait for me, my lovely weather god. There's no escaping me this time." she whispered. The glowing green fluid in the gun seemed to grow brighter. The time was almost here.

* * *

Outside, clouds were beginning to gather as the Charizard and HeartSong landed outside of the stadium, flying low to avoid detection by the Rayquaza. It was focused on the events within the building, not bothering to gather its energy to stop the weather changes. Red slid from Charizard's back, then called it into its Poké Ball after Silver jumped off. Rui had held onto the broken Snag Machine throughout the journey and now wore it, ignoring the sparks that burned her jacket sleeve.

"This is it. The Elite Four must have sealed themselves within the deeper chambers of the stadium." Red murmured, "It's the only explanation for how easily Cipher was able to get inside. If they can't snag the Elite's Pokémon, we're in good hands."

"So let's go! For the sake of the world!" Brendan declared and raced for the stadium entrance. The others yelled the same and charged after him, dashing for the doors into the building.

Rayquaza shrieked almost the moment it saw them enter the center of the stadium, the grass waving erratically from the wind caused by its circling. The Earth Seal towered overhead, the dish pointed at the clouds that spun lazily around in the sky. The figure of Seth could be seen standing before the machine, waiting. Rui gasped and knew what the scene before her meant. It was time. Time to decide if she would let Seth go back.

Back to where?

The beginning, to where it all began.

Could she do that, knowing she had no idea where the beginning was or when it was?

She stopped her thoughts as Gonzap came tearing after the Snagger with a mad shriek, holding his fist up to attack. Sera came racing in soon after, followed by Ein. The two Cipher agents were yelling in a fury at Gonzap, who had leaped upon the startled Snagger and began to beat on him with all his strength.

"SETH!" Rui screamed in horror as the group ran for the steps to join the fight. The Rayquaza circling overhead roared and whipped itself around in the air, waiting for a command from its mistress.

The Snagger managed to untangle himself from Gonzap and fled the scene, disappearing into the stadium through the doors on the other side of the walkway. The Snagem head and Sera followed, still screaming in rage and insanity. Ein made to follow as well, then halted as yet another Snagger stepped around the Earth Seal and held up a small device.

"It ends here." the real Seth hissed and pressed the detonator in his hand.

The tiny bomb packs scattered around the Earth Seal went off in a chain reaction, sending the group that stood nearby scattering away as it fell, the chamber filling with smoke from the bombs as the construct ended at a strange angle. The dish still pointed skyward, the door to the device still gaped at the two opposing teams as the machine crackled with the electricity jumping from thousands of broken circuits.

"Dammit all to bloody hell!" Ein finally swore in a fury, glaring at Seth, _"You will drink from the River Styx upon first birth of new dawn's might!"_ Seth staggered as if he had just been struck in the temple, dropping the detonator. He quickly recovered, shaking his head and glaring at the scientist.

"Rui! I thought I told you not to be here!" the Snagger yelled out, knowing full well that she was given the message to avoid his next maneuver.

"Even though I wanted to follow your letter, I couldn't!" Rui declared, "Red wants to kill you and I keep telling him no! There's got to be another way!" Red drew the dagger and pressed forward.

"I'm sorry it had to end like this for you!" the trainer called out as he readied the weapon. Ein whipped out a small gun and aimed it at Red.

"Drop that weapon! You'll not kill my finest project! He is mine to do with as I please and I will take him with me to recoup from this recent disaster!" the Admin snapped, "With the data he's given me, I can recreate the Earth Seal and fulfill Mr. Evice's goals of conquering this world! Prepare to die, Red the Kanto Champion!"

"Enough!" Seth bellowed, hand sliding under the Snag Machine on his arm, "The only death here will be mine!" The group blinked in startled shock as the Snagger drew out the silver steak knife from his first Cipher-given meal and held the blade to his neck, hand braced to drive it into his throat.

"Seth, what in bloody hell are you doing?" Ein hissed, still keeping his gun trained on Red.

"Seth, don't! Please!" Rui wailed.

"When did he get another Snag Machine?" Brendan asked inanely, the shock still brain-numbing to him.

"Ein, put that gun down now. I'm holding myself hostage." Seth announced coldly, "You have your data to build the Earth Seal again, but it will be for nothing if I am dead. And believe me, I'm going to make sure that there is no chance of you reviving me once I finish myself."

"It's just like my dream. But where is the glowing green thing? Where's the Rayquaza DNA?" Rui whispered tearfully. "Seth! Please! Listen to me! I have something I want to tell you!" The Snagger ground his teeth and pressed the blade closer to his throat, drawing a thin line of crimson that began to trickle down his neck.

"This is no time for tearful apologies! I've already sent you mine!" he snapped, "I'm going now. Red, if my hand doesn't kill me, finish me with yours."

"As you wish." the trainer murmured, readying the Thundershock Dagger once more.

The doors beyond them burst open as Fein came racing out, tailed by Gonzap and Sera still. Ein blinked in surprise as the others turned to watch them. Seth remained immobile, preparing to drive the silver blade home.

"Die!" Gonzap yelled, jumping onto the woman and tackling her to the floor. He began beating on Sera as she shrieked in pain and rage.

"I'll rule it all!" she cried and fired the gun at the receding figure before her. Fein cried in pain as the Rayquaza DNA injection hit his back and flooded his body. He crumpled to the ground and clawed at his back. Gonzap took no notice, proceeding to strangle the woman beneath him as she caught sight of Seth standing just beyond Fein's convulsing body. A wail of horror and fury streamed from her mouth as she used the last of her strength to lift the gun and fire once again.

"Sera! The faulty code!" Ein shrieked and switched his aim at Gonzap, firing once to get him off. The huge man collapsed as Rui and May screamed at the bloodshed.

"It's a massacre!" Silver cried and jumped as Seth shrieked in pain, arcing backwards under the blow of Sera's last attempt to complete him.

The Earth Seal shuddered and a net of energy flew out from within the chambers, wrapping Seth in the cocoon and dragging him into its maw. Watching the Earth Seal absorbing the Snagger set Rui's decision in stone.

"Seth!" Rui screamed out as the Snagger struggled vainly to escape. He looked at her in sorrow, hand reaching for her.

"Rui! Help me! Kill me! Hurry!" he cried to her, "Don't let it finish me!"

"Go back to the beginning! Do what you have to, but go back! Don't stay for me! Go back!" Rui screamed and Seth disappeared into the machine, the doors sliding shut as the device charged with energy. Ein stepped back from it in horror.

After only a few seconds, the Earth Seal suddenly began to sound an alarm that carried throughout the stadium, filling the air as a beam of dark energy fired from the lopsided dish into the sky, bringing the clouds swirling faster and faster, building in intensity and turning the heavens into a dark hellish nightmare. Rayquaza roared and spun with it, adding its wind to the clouds and fueling the storm cell.

Beams of light shone through and landed on the grass within the stadium as the cell grew larger and spun faster, completely overshadowing the Indigo Plateau as the building began to shudder. The heroes gathered together and looked all around in confused terror, trying to make sense of the horrible chain reaction that had just begun.

_"Hey!"_ Jirachi called out to the group as the other legendaries appeared from the lights, _"Did we miss anything?"_


	8. Let the Rain Fall

Ch 8

_"Jirachi! What the hell are you doing here?"_ Pikachu yelled, _"It's the freaking end of the world as we know it!"_

"Hey, cool! Latios! I'm gonna catch it!" Brendan exclaimed and then jumped as part of the building was torn asunder by the lightning striking the stadium. "Oh, right. The mega-cell. Maybe later."

_"Red! Where's Seth?"_ Celebi called out as Rayquaza coiled itself up.

"He's been absorbed! Can you legendaries stop this storm?" the trainer replied. The sky dragon roared and fired a beam of energy down on the Pokémon, scattering them over the field as they retaliated with their own attacks. Fire, ice, lightning and psychic energy filled the air as they pushed Rayquaza back.

_"Get him out to play the Time Flute! We'll stall the storm as long as we can!"_ Mew called, _"But we need Raykyoudon's power! Is he with us? Get him out!"_

* * *

Ein knelt by Fein, murmuring words under his breath as he felt for a pulse. The master of disguise choked on a strange green liquid flowing up from his mouth and looked pale, curled in a fetal position.

"He said... he was checking... the circuit... breakers..." the peon gasped, then stiffened and finally fell limp. Ein checked his pulse again and shook his head when none was found. He looked up as Red finished translating the Pokémon's words, then watched Rui run to the Earth Seal and start beating on the fiberglass door with the broken machine on her arm.

"Come on! Open! Seth! Can you hear me?" she called out. Ein looked up at the dark cell that continued to swell and claw at the stadium, the Shadow Rayquaza doing everything it could to feed the storm and stop the legendaries below from containing it. Figuring it would be best to live and try conquering the world another day, Ein stood and ran towards the machine.

"Out of the way, girl! I know the door sequence!" he declared and reached for the panel. Tapping several buttons, he released the lock and stepped back as the door slid open, smoke billowing out from within. "And now I shove off for greener pastures! Cheerio!" the scientist added and dashed away from the scene.

* * *

"Pikachu! Deflect the lightning! Keep it away from us!" Red ordered as several of the large bolts crashed onto the stadium's seats and walkways. The mouse leaped from his shoulder and charged up, firing bursts of electricity at each bolt of lightning that came too close for comfort.

"Legendaries unite to battle! Go, HeartSong and Kyogre!" May cried, releasing the two Pokémon that could help them slow down the storm cell. Additional clouds poured in to obey the Kyogre's Drizzle ability, fueling the cell as it descended on the hapless stadium.

"Groudon! Dissipate the clouds with Drought!" Brendan called out, throwing the legendary Pokémon into the fray. The skies churned with the weather disturbances and it seemed only to get worse.

"Most of you are Psychic types! Can't you use your power to make it disappear?" Silver shrieked at the Pokémon down below.

_"We're kinda busy trying to stay alive long enough to make use of it!"_ Jirachi yelled back and squealed as the rush of wind threw him across the field. Celebi was in the greatest danger, flying up to meet with Rayquaza and trying to pull the visor off so it could see her.

_"Celebi! Watch out!"_ Lugia yelled over the roaring of the storm and mentally called a barrier to surround the little Pokémon just as Rayquaza whipped its tail at her.

"We can't stop the Earth Seal's storm like this! What are we going to do?" May cried after seeing the Latias's psychic moves to seal the storm were failing. Kyogre fired continuous bursts of ice at the dragon overhead and shrieked as a bolt of lightning crashed down not far from it.

* * *

"Seth!" Rui cried as she climbed into the Earth Seal and dropped inside. The chamber contained a cocoon of bright green energy and sealed within it was the Snagger, lying limply in the center of the chamber. Rui reached out to grab him and was shocked by the energy that held him. The Earth Seal refused to release him. "Seth! We need you to play Celebi's Summon! Rayquaza is another Shadow Pokémon!" He made no response to her. "I told you to go back to the beginning. Whatever that means, to me it says that I completely trust you. I'm sorry for what I said and did at the Tohjo Falls, but that is what I did when I was angry and not thinking right." Rui went on, hoping to get through to him. "So please get out of this and play the song to free Rayquaza. It might be able to help us if it wasn't trying to kill us first." she added, "And you can go back. I'm letting you go, knowing that you will come back one day."

Seth slowly opened his eyes and turned to look at her, dazed. He began to say something, then cringed as the cocoon flickered and dropped him to the wall, which was now the floor. The silver knife fell from his hand as he curled up and coughed. Rui knelt beside him and hugged him tightly, sobbing in relief.

"Don't have much time." Seth managed to croak out, "Can feel changes."

"I brought your pack. Just play the flute. We'll handle the rest." Rui told him and helped him climb out of the machine.

* * *

"This isn't going well! The storm is right on us and most of Indigo Stadium has been torn away! Are you sure the Elite Four is safe?" Brendan yelled at Red. The trainer nodded as he watched the storm continue to spread out from around them. It was a miracle the winds hadn't thrown them to certain death, but it was assumed that the legendaries were using portions of their power to keep them safe.

"Storms have to unleash their load to die out, but this one will destroy everything if it does!" May cried, "But if the storm rises up into the atmosphere, the lack of air will rip it apart, right?"

"That's an idea. Hey! Pokémon! Push the clouds higher up into the sky!" Silver declared, raising her arms and miming out the rise of the storm-cell.

_"We can't do that with Rayquaza sealing the storm from the rest of the atmosphere!"_ Latios cried, _"We have to get him purified first!"_

"Seth's gonna play the flute!" Rui called out as she helped the Snagger walk up to the group. Seth reached for his pack and pulled the silvery Time Flute from it, grimacing as his insides suddenly heaved, trying to fight the changes brought on by the incomplete Rayquaza DNA injection. Fein's body, not designed for the alien substance, attacked itself to neutralize the symbiotic cells that attached to every cell of his body. Seth's was accepting the transfusion slowly, but incorporating the altered strands according to priority.

As Seth raised the flute to his mouth and began to play Celebi's Summon, the storm began pressing harder down on the heroes, the legendary Pokémon struggling to force the cell up higher into the air and the non-Psychic types continuing their assault on Rayquaza. Red, Silver, Brendan and May listened to the notes that permeated the air and carried the melody of the Time Flute to Rayquaza. Rui scrambled to release the other Shadow Pokémon and the male Eons and stepped back. Blaziken, Gardevoir, the female Espeon and female Umbreon all looked up at Celebi in surprise, then glowed a soft green as the memories of joy and love and caring rushed into their minds, freeing them from the darkness of the Shadow.

_"I remember it all now! My trainer had been Luka, from Hoenn! I remember all of my attacks and all of our good times!"_ Gardevoir exclaimed and looked up at the storm fiercely, _"For Luka and Seth, I add my Psychic!"_ She began to focus on pushing the storm up higher.

_"Dude! I remember all my good stuff! My trainer, Ryu, was gonna be the next Hoenn Champion!"_ the Blaziken declared, _"Sweet! I got my Blaze Kick back! I love that move!"_

_"We only knew Ein and Sera as our trainers. We were born in their care. But we accept Seth as our new master and trainer. And Rui, too!"_ the female Eons cheered.

_"I'll add my own Psychic power, too!"_ the female Espeon cried and joined the Gardevoir's struggles.

_"You're not alone! Seth, good to see you alive! Now let's make sure you stay alive!" _Jupiter declared and added in his own power. Pluto blinked at the grimace on his trainer's face.

_"Something isn't right."_ he murmured.

High overhead, the Rayquaza writhed, then froze as the melody played into its mind. Celebi finally removed the visor and looked into its eyes. Memories of the calm nights and peaceful days atop the Sky Pillar in Hoenn flooded the dragon's mind and it shook its head as the tiny Pokémon sent the visor flying into the distance.

_"What have I been doing?"_ Rayquaza asked and looked around. _"What is this?"_

_"Rayquaza! A storm of global proportions has been unleashed onto this tiny plateau! Unseal the air so we can push it into space!"_ Celebi declared. The dragon blinked and nodded, releasing the energy that held the storm down to the Earth. The legendaries resumed the push skyward, struggling to keep the storm contained as it rose slowly.

The Time Flute shattered in Seth's hands and he dropped to his knees, gasping as the DNA churned within his body. Celebi flew down to him and hovered before the Snagger, a serious look on her face.

_"Seth, dear friend to us all, the time and day has come. Since you were created to be a super-legendary Pokémon, and are now becoming that Pokémon, it is by our voices that we ask for your alignment! Will you aid us, Raykyoudon, in saving this land? Or do you wish for it all to end so your pain will cease?"_ she declared as Red translated quickly for the other humans. Seth looked up at her, then at the storm. He shed the Snag Machine and stood shakily, determination renewed on his face.

"I promised Rui the chance to live and find a better life than the one she had with me. As Raykyoudon, I will aid you." he finally whispered. Celebi nodded and smiled.

_"Thank you."_ she murmured, then declared in a loud voice, _"I am Celebi, the Forest Guardian! I recognize Raykyoudon!"_

_"I am Jirachi, the Wish Maker! I recognize Raykyoudon!"_

_"I am Latios, the Soothing Dragon! I recognize Raykyoudon!"_

_"I am HeartSong, the Cute Champion! I recognize Raykyoudon"_

_"I am Ho-Oh, the Bird of Life! I recognize Raykyoudon!"_

_"I am Lugia, the Sea's Great Guardian! I recognize Raykyoudon!"_

_"I am Articuno, the Titan of Ice! I recognize Raykyoudon!"_

_"I am Zapdos, the Titan of Lightning! I recognize Raykyoudon!"_

On and on, each legendary Pokémon called their name and title, recognizing the new legendary to rise to their ranks. In the end, the three Pokémon responsible for Raykyoudon looked at Seth, preparing to add their voices.

_"I am Rayquaza, the Sky Dragon! I recognize Raykyoudon!"_

_"I am Kyogre, the Sea Basin's Origin! I recognize Raykyoudon!"_

_"I am Groudon, the Continent's Origin! I recognize Raykyoudon!"_ they exclaimed as the psychics lifted the storm higher away from the ground. Seth looked at them all in surprise, then grinned.

"I am Raykyoudon, the Weather's Master! Let's blow this storm outta here!" he declared and leaped out into the air. Celebi caught him in a psychic field and they flew down to join the other Pokémon, "Rui! Get out of here! Everyone, get out! I've been training myself on the powers that were granted to me, and the infusion is almost complete! I'll have the power to stop the storm, but I can't do it if you're here!"

"Goodbye, Seth." Rui whispered softly and collected the Snag Machine left on the floor as Mew and Mewtwo directed their attention over momentarily and teleported the group out of the stadium.

* * *

The storm pushed back on the group, roaring like a living beast fighting for its freedom. Seth stood beneath the center of the nightmare and gazed up into its heart. He had been the cause of the storm, he would have to destroy it.

By going back to the beginning.

He lifted his hands, ignoring the fact that it was playing out like his dream, like Rui's dream, and raised them to point at the storm. Rayquaza's DNA was fully absorbed and his body lit up brightly, changing him to the form best suited for the job at hand. He hoped for the best.

Celebi flew back from him and continued her own attempts to push the cell up. The legendaries were tiring quickly, Mewtwo was on the verge of collapse despite his claims to be the most powerful Pokémon alive. HeartSong nudged her brother for comfort and resumed her battle against the Earth Seal Storm. The glow at the center of the chaos was fading. Soon the final piece would fall into place.

Seth stood fast on the grassy plain, hands still raised to the storm as dark blue wings spanned from his back, feathers ruffling in the wind. With all three pieces of DNA within him, he knew now what he had to do. Knew what the beginning was that he had to go to in order to stop the storm.

Knew that his life would be utterly destroyed once he did. There would be no chance of returning from this battle.

"In the beginning..." Seth whispered as he spread his arms as if to embrace the sky, "I was nothing but the energy of the legendary Pokémon."

The legendaries cried in shock as the tiny figure exploded into a swirling twister of millions of golden beads of light, spinning in a tight tornado that rose to meet the storm and push it higher into the air far faster than they could.

_"He's doing it! He's going to shred the storm in the atmosphere!" _Jirachi exclaimed happily. Celebi stared up at the tornado rising and spinning faster, the golden particles spreading further and further out to push up on the entire cell.

_"He's going to destroy himself!"_ she screamed, _"This wasn't supposed to happen! If he rises with the storm to destroy it, he'll be torn to shreds with it! He can't come back if he's been ripped to nothingness!"_

_"That was his choice! Let's get out of here before the energy kills us!"_ Latios declared and the group teleported themselves to join the humans outside of the chaos.

* * *

Rui looked up and gasped at the great golden twister that rose from the Indigo Stadium's ruins and pushed on the miles wide storm, taking it higher into the sky. Red and the others cheered, fists pumping into the air as they realized the tornado was Seth's handiwork. Jupiter and Pluto cried sorrowfully, instinct telling them that the spiralling energy was all that remained of their master and friend.

The legendaries appeared by them and Celebi rushed to Rui's side, crying out at the twister as it rose higher and the beads of gold spread thinner and thinner over the storm as it began to shrink and collapse, wisps of clouds thrown from it as the winds in the upper atmospheres began to tear and rip into it. The group was still calling out in joy, then horror as Celebi's frantic wails and reaching for the twister finally forced the truth upon them. The further apart Seth's energy was thrown to force the entire storm cell into the atmosphere, the less chance of his surviving the out of body experience.

"You promised you'd come back, Seth!" Rui screamed at the twister, "I said to go back, but this is too far!"

"He's got to come down! He has to come back to Earth!" May exclaimed.

"But if he slacks off on the storm, it will come down with him and destroy the world!" Silver protested. Red scanned the heavens and shook his head.

"I don't think so. Enough of it has already been torn away that the worst we'll get is a hurricane, but even that is going to cause major damage to Kanto and Johto." he remarked. Celebi blinked and jerked her head up in shock as she thought of those words. It all made sense now.

_"Let the rain fall." _she whispered and looked at Red, _"Translate and call it out! Let the rain fall!"_

"What is she saying?" Rui asked, seeing the new light of hope in Celebi's eyes.

"She says to call out 'Let the rain fall' to Seth." Red replied and lit up. "Duh! If he lets the storm come down as rain, he can come with it and weaken the rest of its energy with his own!"

"Then let's do it!" Rui exclaimed and turned to the golden twister, "Seth! Let the rain fall!"

"Let the rain fall, Seth! Let it fall!" Silver joined in.

"Let it fall, let it fall! Let the rain fall!" May cried and soon the others were crying those words. Human and Pokémon alike called out to the golden tornado, hoping their words would reach what remained of the Snagger.

"Let the rain fall!"

* * *

_"Let the rain fall!"_

The words touched the hazy remnants of Seth's consciousness, the only thing keeping the tornado spinning and pushing higher. He considered it, wondering why his friends would want the storm to return. His energy spread thinner and he felt fainter, almost as if it was too much of a strain to continue existing. He touched the last parts of the storm, knowing that the bulk of it was gone and there was only this portion left to destroy.

_"Let the rain fall!"_

Why not? The rain will be his tears now, weeping down on the girl he would have to leave behind. Seth gathered what remained of his energy and consciousness, then collapsed, allowing the dying storm to return to the lower levels of the sky. The beads of gold that was left of him fell with it. He gazed down at the tiny figures of his friends, took note that the height didn't bother him anymore, then faded from life.

And the rain fell to the ground.

* * *

Rui's tears were disguised by the rain that poured down on her, poured down on the world in a gentle drizzle that soaked and nourished the earth. The sky cleared as the gentle rains went on, allowing a wide rainbow of colors to stream across the sky and bring promise of brighter days. Celebi looked around and scratched her head, confused.

_"What happened?"_ she asked, lost in the situation for the first time. _"Where's Seth?"_ Rui hung her head and hugged the new Snag Machine.

"He's gone. Even though he let the rain fall, it was too late for him." she murmured. Silver stroked her back again, a look of sympathy on her face. The legendaries looked up and blinked at the single golden bead that made it through the fall and drifted towards them.

_"Celebi."_ Jirachi murmured and the Grass-Psychic reached out to catch the bead in her hand.

_"He just might have a chance."_ she whispered and smiled brightly, _"Of course! Go back to the beginning! Let the rain fall and let him come clean! Let him be Raykyoudon the way he wanted to be!"_ She flew before the group and held it up to them. _"The rain has washed away the darkness and the sorrow! Seth has come clean in this death! Rayquaza! Kyogre! Groudon! Will you give part of yourselves to recreate Raykyoudon?"_ she cried. The three Pokémon roared out their answer and beads of green, red and blue energy flew from around them, gathering towards the tiny gold bead in Celebi's hand. The bead rose up and floated in the center of the cloud of energy before it all collapsed into the middle, spinning and forming the human figure that was Seth's body. He remained veiled in the cloud of color that spun all around it.

The group looked up at the scene in quiet awe, watching the events unfold and the rebirth of their friend.

_"Now, go back to the beginning!"_ Celebi yelled and the cloud with Seth's figure within it flashed brilliantly, disappearing when the glow faded. Rui cried out in shock and looked around as the legendaries cheered and began teleporting away.

"Wait! Celebi! Where is he?" Rui exclaimed. Celebi smiled and spun joyfully in the air.

_"At the beginning! Where it all began, that is where Seth is!"_ she laughed as Red translated quickly, _"He's alive and he's Raykyoudon! In the form he always wanted!"_

"Aw hell, not this riddle again." Brendan groaned.

"What beginning? I told him to go there and he became that twister of energy!" Rui demanded to know, "What beginning?"

_"Think about it! Where it all began, that is the beginning! The reason why Seth existed as the darkness, as the enslaved Raykyoudon! That was the beginning then, and it is the beginning now!"_ Celebi went on, _"Find the beginning! Go to it, and find Seth!"_ With that, she disappeared into time, a green flash of light that burst in, then out.

"Looks like the adventure isn't over." May remarked, her hands on her hips. "Anyone have any ideas on where this beginning could be?" Rui removed the broken Snag Machine and slipped on the newer model, clenching her hand into a fist. She had not fought this far to lose her desert prince again to 'the beginning'.

Desert prince.

"Orre. The Shadow Pokémon Lab." she whispered and looked up at her friends. "She said the beginning, right? Well, the Shadow Pokémon Lab in Orre is where Seth was originally created. That could be the beginning."

"It could mean many things." Red pointed out, "It could be further back in Seth's history than just his creation. Who created him? How was he created? Why was he created? Each question will give us an answer that could lead us to anyplace in the world as the beginning of everything for him."

"Will you come with me, then?" Rui asked her friends as Jupiter and Pluto stood by her sides, determined to keep their promise to Seth and protect her. "Will you come with me to Orre and begin the quest to find the Beginning and Seth?" The trainers looked at each other, then smiled at her.

"I'm always ready for a new challenge!" May laughed, throwing her a thumb's up. Brendan nodded.

"If Latios shows up again, I want to be there for it! Count me in!" he declared.

"I've never been in a desert region before! This should be fun! New battles and new trainers! Let's go!" Silver exclaimed.

"I would like a battle with Seth myself, and see how powerful a Snagger can be in a fight." Red remarked with a sly grin, "Of course I'll accompany you, Rui! This time, I have no qualms about finding him alive. In fact, I prefer it!"

"Then we're set to find Seth!" Rui declared as the rain stopped and the sun shone brightly, illuminating the rainbow in the sky. "Onwards to Orre, and the Beginning of it All!"

The Beginning to The End

* * *

A/N: Okay, so I lied about this being the last story for Pokémon Colosseum. Heh, it could be worse. I could have just given a quick happy ending and leave you to figure out how Seth and Rui get married. But then I'd go nuts trying to think about it too. Oh well. Get ready for the next storyline! Pokémon Colosseum: Back to the Beginning!

Seth's Pokémon: Jupiter, Pluto, Blaziken, Gardevoir, Skarmory, Typhlosion (he changed his team after releasing the legendary dogs of Johto)

Rui's Pokémon: Espeon, Umbreon

May's Pokémon: Blaziken, HeartSong, Kyogre, Absol, Linoone, Minun

Brendan's Pokémon: Sceptile, Mudkip, Groudon, Altaria, Plusle, Kecleon

Silver's Pokémon: Typhlosion, Espeon, Pichu, Haunter, Wobbuffet, Hitmontop

Red's Pokémon: Pikachu, Blastoise, Charizard, Venusaur, Espeon, Snorlax

Well, that should be it. I'll see you all again sometime, so I hope you enjoyed this story. I'll be working on my next one soon enough!


End file.
